A Phoenix Among Hawks
by Crimson Fox4
Summary: After a series of unlikely events, Piper and Aerrow discover the true origins of Piper's necklace. What will happen when the realization of its power and ability sink in? Will it's existence become known to evil? Find out in this mild Aerrow/Piper romance
1. Knock Out

**Hey! I'm Crimson Fox4 and this is my first fan fic ever, so if I mess up on the character's personalities, spelling, grammar and stuff like that, suggestions would be helpful!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks they are the property of Nerd Corps. (But you already knew that)**

**Now, the first chapter of my story!**

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Chapter 1 

_Knockout_

"Aerrow! Look out!" I yelled to our Sky Knight as the Dark Ace tried to sneak up on him from behind. Whirling around, Aerrow ducked just in time to miss getting shot by a burst of energy from our enemy's glowing red blade.

I sighed as I turned back to the battle raging before me. Aerrow could take care of himself, he always did. Besides, he had Radarr to help him. 

I quickly propelled my heliscooter forward into the swarm of Cyclonian Talons.

"Why do the Cyclonians always have to attack us?" I mumbled as I shot an unsuspecting talon with a blizzard crystal. I smirked as he jumped off of his useless ride, deploying his parachute only to get it caught in the thick tree canopy of Amazonia.

What started off as a simple recon mission turned into a full fledged battle above the terra when we spotted the Cyclonian base hidden in the jungle.

"Piper, I could use a little bit of help over here!" Finn called to me as I shook myself free from my thoughts.

"Coming!" I yelled as I sped off towards Finn and his smoking skimmer.

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"With a little more training you would make an excellent Talon!" The Dark Ace said to me while trying to knock me off of my skimmer.

"As I've told you before, I'd rather eat dirt than join Cyclonia!"

"That can be arranged." The Dark Ace smirked as he pulled his blade back in preparation to strike me down. I side stepped his swing and kicked him in the stomach while he was unguarded.

As he fell, he opened his battle glider and in moments was standing on his own Switchblade Elite.

"You never learn, do you Aerrow?" Dark Ace said as he pointed behind my head. I slowly turned around to come face to face with Master Cyclonis, as evil looking as ever with all of her black capes and what not that she usually wore.

"Hello Sky Night." She said, smiling evilly.

Without hesitation I jumped back down onto my skimmer and headed off to where my teammates were still holding off the remaining Talons. I knew that I was being pursued, but I couldn't look back. Besides Radarr's screaming was giving me a pretty good idea if anyone was catching up to me or shooting at me.

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"Look out!" I heard Aerrow yell to me as he zoomed past with the Dark Ace in close pursuit.

"Huh?" I mumbled as I looked around the skies that surrounded me. That's when I heard it – the dark evil laugh of my "Best friend forever". I cringed as I looked around to see a purplish black sphere of energy come floating out of the clouds in front of me with Master Cyclonis inside. 

"This can't be good." I groaned, Master Cyclonis'moniacal laughter reaching my ears.

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Blue energy clashed against red while I fought against the Dark Ace. His horrifying frown suddenly turned into an evil grin as he pushed me off of his ride. 

Luckily Radarr was there to catch me as always. I looked up to where the Dark Ace had been, half expecting him to come swooping at me in rage, but he was gone.

I tried to ignore the bad feeling that was growing inside me, but I just couldn't shrug it off. Hoping my gut feeling was wrong; I turned my skimmer around and headed off to make sure the rest of the Storm Hawks were ok.

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Aerrow pulled up beside me on his skimmer, just as dumbfounded as I was. Why would Master Cyclonis be joining her Talons in a petty fight against us? Were we really that much of a threat to her?

"Piper…." Finn whined, sitting on Junko's skimmer. Obviously his skimmer had been blown up a while ago.

"I know Finn!" I said, getting really annoyed with him trying to point out the obvious.

"Umm, Piper, what type of crystals does she have?" Aerrow's words snapped my attention to Master Cyclonis. I stared at the two crystals in her hands. One was a murky blue colour while the other was pitch black.

"Oh no!" I gasped as the realization of what type ofcrystals they were hit me.

"By the look of fear on your face, I believe you know what these crystals are, do you not?" Cyclonis remarked more to me than the rest of my team. Continuing she said, "Go on Piper, tell them what sort of impending doom awaits them."

"Piper?" Aerrow said to me, question in his voice.

"The blue one is a knock out Crystal." Pausing I continued, "The black one, a black out stone."

"Good bye Storm Hawks!" Master Cyclonis cried as energy from the blue crystal knocked out Aerrow, Radarr, Junko and Finn. She then raised the black crystal, a dark cloud of energy forming around it. Aiming and firing it at me she exclaimed, "Good bye Piper!"

As darkness tried to over take me, I saw several Talons flying away with my squadron members. I groaned as evil laughter enveloped my ears, and the impending darkness over whelmed me.

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**Ok, please review and give me any suggestions you may have. I'll try and update as often as possible!**

**Oh, and if at any time during this story it starts to sound like one of yours, or if any of the ideas are along the same lines, let me know and we can figure something out. (Hopefully this story will be unique, but I guess you never know)**

**Crimson Fox4**


	2. Caged Hawks

**Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed my last chapter! A big thanks also goes to Unleash The Shadow for helping me out with my many questions and editing this chapter.**

**Sorry if you guys got confused with the perspective changes in the last chapter. If you weren't able to figure it out, it started of in Piper's point of view, then Aerrow's, Piper's, Aerrows, and then it finished off in Piper's point of view. From now on I'll put a note in if I change perspectives. (Just a heads up, this entire chapter is wrtten in Aerrow's point of view.)**

**I will also be awarding online cookies to people lol. I've already given one out.**

**Cookie Challenge #2 If someoe can guess what the deal with Piper's necklace will be in this story I shall award you with an online cookie and credit it to you on my Profile page.**

**Ok, enough of me blabbering1 I do not not own the Storm Hawks, they belong to Nerd Corps (Again you already knew that did you not?)**

**Here goes chapter #2!! **

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Chapter 2

_Caged Hawks_

Ugh, my eyelids felt like lead. It felt like my green eyes would never see anything again, but like always, my eyes managed to open. I groaned as a sharp pain in my head grew into a headache.

"Great, just great." I mumbled under my breath. My emerald eyes instinctively tried to analyze my surroundings. It was an almost feeble action, as the only light in this place, whatever this place is, came from a small slit of a window with bars across it.

_Wait a second, bars?_

My eyes finally complied with my demand for vision. I found that I could now take in my surroundings a bit better as my eyes adjusted to the dim light.

_A prison? Why am I in a slimy prison?_

Then the light inside my head turned on as my drowsiness left me.

_Of course, the crystal! That's why my head hurts so much!_

I sat there for a little while letting my eyes adjust a little better as I tried to remember what happened.

Flash Back

_Piper and I had spent over an hour in her lab going over maps and charts of terra Amazonia and the notes she had made about our upcoming recon mission. Once the rest of the team had been informed of the general plan, we mounted our skimmers and took to the skies. We quickly flew towards Amazonia while Stork went to land the Condor on a close uncharted terra._

_Stork had tried to persuade Piper that it was a bad idea. Piper easily recited his 'Uncharted terras lead to certain doom' speech. Piper ended up getting her way. _

"_It's just in case Stork." Was all Piper had said in explanation. I had given her a funny look, wondering what was going on behind her bright orange eyes, but she gave me no clues as to what her reason was. _

_Piper and I had known each other for most of our childhood, so I usually had a general idea if she wasn't telling me something. I was getting__one of those feelings then. _

_As we approached Amazonia Finn went ahead for a quick scout for trouble while Junko, Piper, Radarr and I managed to keep out of sight by hiding in a cloud bank._

_It had hardly been five minutes when we heard weapons fire and Finn screaming his head off. I guess he had figured out where the trouble was._

_We pushed our skimmers to the max as we dashed from our cover, causing odd wisps of clouds to emerge from the places that we had just flown through. _

_I was soon in heated combat with the Dark Ace, and the rest of my team was skillfully taking care of the 'Elite' talons. This went on for quite a while until Master Cyclonis herself showed up._

I was brought out of my thoughts as the sound of small footfalls echoed from the cell across from mine. I crawled towards the bars, straining my senses to try and figure out who, or what was in that other cell.

From my post, I could see two figures in the cell. One was quite large while the other was somewhat scrawny, but obviously human. Both were stirring a bit, but neither would have made the sound I had just heard.

_What a great time for my mind to be playing tricks on me._

Suddenly, out of the darkness of the other cell, a small figure scampered from here to there, sniffing random inanimate objects and the other two figures in the cell. It perked up its ears when it heard my shuffling. 

_Whatever that thing is, it looks familiar, but it's still too dark to tell._

Following my thought the creature gave a shriek of joy and scampered between the bars of the one cell, and into mine.

"Radarr?" I asked in surprise. With a happy cry Radarr jumped into my lap and gave me a hug. "I missed you too buddy." I said softly as I gave him a quick pat on the head.

After my reunion with Radarr, I moved towards the back of the cell to lean against the wall. Something still didn't seem right. If Radarr had been in the other cell, it must have meant that those other two could be Junko and Finn. But if that was the case, where was Piper?

I groaned. As a Sky Knight I was supposed to help and protect others. I took this to heart, especially concerning any of my squadron. They weren't just my squad mates and friends; they were my family. The only family I had left. I don't know what I would ever do if something happened to any of them.

I stood up and started to pace my cell quietly. 

_Where could they have put Piper? Why isn't she in these cells like the rest of us? Where is she!!_

I mentally slapped myself for not keeping better track of my team. I sat back down against the wall exasperated. I knew that it wasn't my fault that we got separated. We had all been knocked unconscious, so there wasn't really anything I could have done, but still….

A few hours later, when there were all but a few rays of moon light illuminating my cell, I thought I heard something in the far darkest corner of my cell. I looked over expecting to see Radarr any moment when I remembered that he was supposed to be asleep by my feet. 

I quickly looked down at my feet, and there he was, all curled up and snoring quietly.

_If Radarr is with me, what could possibly be making the noises in the corner?_

My curiosity getting the better of me, I decided to check out what the noise was. It couldn't possibly be any worse than the rat that Junko and Finn had found in their cell after they had woken up a few hours ago.

Slowly I stood up, trying my best not to disturb Radarr who was still asleep at my feet. I inched my way over and said, "Hello?" 

I cautiously bent down and stared into the corner, my eyes barely able to see the outline of a feminine figure. 

"Piper?" I said, bending down further to gently shake her shoulders. "Piper?" I said again, a little louder this time. I heard a groan escape her body, but she still wasn't moving much. 

Gingerly I picked up her small form, and carried her over into the rays of moonlight where earlier I had been sitting with Radarr. Carefully I set her down on the floor, making sure not to bang her head against the cold stone that formed the floor of these putrid cells.

"Piper? Piper?" I said again. Still nothing more than a groan escaped her body. 

Sighing I sat back down against the wall. 

I was beginning to wonder if Piper had gotten hit with the same crystal as the rest of the guys and I had been hit with.

The memory was slightly blurry, but I remembered Master Cyclonis had shown us two crystals. One was a very deep pitch black, while the one she had hit me with had been a murky blue.

Piper had told us what type of crystals they were… remembering their names would be a bit of a challenge though. 

"A knock out crystal… and… a… and what….?" I said out loud; voicing my thoughts rather than keeping them inside of my brain. 

"And a black out stone." A drowsy voice floating into my ears said.

"Oh ya, and a black out stone. Thanks." I said to the voice.

_Wait a second…who said that?_

I frantically looked around my cell, my eyes landing on Piper.

"Piper?" I asked more to myself other than anyone else. I quickly moved from the wall and sat down at her side, hoping for something, anything that would let me know she was waking up.

I probably sat there for another five or ten minutes waiting for a sign. Thinking it had just been my imagination, I was about to go sit against the wall again when her eyelids fluttered. 

With renewed hope I quietly whispered, "Piper? Piper can you hear me?"

Her brilliant orange eyes finally opened only to close again. She moaned and her hand instantly flew to her head.

"Ow." She mumbled rubbing her forehead.

"You ok?" I questioned.

"Huh?" She said finally looking up and meeting my emerald eyes. "Oh. Ya, I'm fine." She winced as another wave of pain appeared to hit her head. "At least, I think so…."

I couldn't help but chuckle. Piper was always so sure of herself and now she seemed so disoriented.

"What are you laughing at?" She asked looking at me quizzically as she attempted to get up. I helped her up and over to the wall to sit down while I said, "Oh, nothing."

"Ugh, did you have a headache when you woke up too?" She asked as I sat down next to her.

Replying I said, "Ya, I did. But for some reason I have a feeling that it's not as bad as yours." Piper's only response was a shrug as I sat down beside her.

"How long was I out for?" Piper asked staring at Radarr's sleeping form.

I thought about it for a while before I asked, "When were we attacked over Amazonia?"

"Um… in the early afternoon I think."

"Well then by the moonlight outside, I'd say you were out of it for maybe half a day."

"How long were you out for, and where are the others?" Piper said, still asking questions and rubbing her sore head.

"Finn and Junko are across the hall in the cell opposite to ours. I think they're sleeping right now though." I replied.

"Oh, ok. So do you have any idea how long you were out for?"

Now it was my turn to think again. Eventually I said, "I'm pretty sure that I woke up sometime in the afternoon. It was still sunny out for a while before it got dark. Finn and Junko woke up a bit after me."

Piper nodded and seemed deep in thought, mulling over the information I had just given her.

"Why do you ask?" Piper just shrugged at my question. "Piper?" I said sternly.

Piper sighed and waited a few moments before she finally answered my question.

"I'm glad you guys only got hit by the knock out crystal."

It seemed kind of odd for Piper to be happy about what happened considering we were now prisoners in the depths of Cyclonia. 

Hoping to figure out what she was getting at I pressed her further, "What do you mean?"

Looking at me, and then back to the floor she whispered, "The knock out crystal is only effective once. After that if you are hit with one again it will only knock you out for five minutes."

All she received from me was a blank stare. I wasn't quite following her yet.

Sighing, she continued to explain herself, "All crystals have different properties and abilities. You know, something that makes them unique and identifiable." She looked at me to see if I was following. 

I nodded and she continued, "A property of a knock out crystal that makes it unique is that after it is used on a person once, the next time it is used on them the effect is weakened considerably. While it has close to the same effect of a black out stone, some of the properties are opposite."

Piper again looked at me to make sure I was listening. Satisfied that I was listening she continued, "Unlike the knock out crystal, a black out stone has a higher energy charge, so the victims of its power stay unconscious longer. That's just where some of the differences start Aerrow." She looked at me again, this time with worry hinted on her face. "If Master Cyclonis were to hit me with that black out stone again, I could be knocked out for days."

Her orange eyes met my green ones and I wasn't sure what to say. 

_Piper knocked out again, for even longer next time?_

I shuddered at the thought of anyone being so helpless, especially since we were talking about Piper. She was usually so strong willed, but now….

I grabbed her hand that was next to mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. 

"Don't worry Piper." I said to her. "I won't let anything happen to you." Piper smiled at my promise, but then her face quickly returned to its look of worry. 

I wasn't sure how to make her feel better, to let her know that the Storm Hawks had always had luck on their side. I just hoped that she knew that we would get out of here soon. We all would.

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**Hope you all liked the new chapter! It's not as much as a cliff hanger as last time... but hey maybe thats a good thing. So go ahead and review don't be shy!**

**I might get more chapters up soon cause of the long weekend, but we'll see! **

**If you get really anxious between updates, I'm going to start posting snippets of my next chapters on my profile page, not to mention cookie challenges! lol**

**Crimson Fox4**


	3. Into the Darkness

**Thanks to Unleash The Shadow who was awesome enough to edit my writing again!**

 **I have awarded my 3rd Online Cookie to Dragonwings144 for having a very good eye and seeing a couple of mistakes I made in the first chapter(Before I had help editing:P) Did anyone else notice that I had spelled Sky Knight like Sky_ Night_? If so, kudos to you, but Dragonwings144 gets the Cookie for pointing it out to me! (Don't worry, I fixed my lil mistakes already:P)**

**Sorry that the preview for this chapter wasn't on my profile page, it somehow went blank one night, and I've been havin issues with it since. Anyways...**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, Nerd Corps does(once again you already knew that)**

**Here is chapter #3!!**

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Chapter 3

_Into the Darkness_

I moaned when I woke up to the fowl stench of the Cyclonian prison. I frowned when I realized that I was still locked up like a caged bird.

_I guess that's what I am in a sense. I am a Storm Hawk after all._

Sighing I looked down at my feet expecting Radarr to be there, but he wasn't. My eyes darted back and forth, searching for my furry blue co–pilot.

_Where could he be?_

I looked across the hallway to see Finn twitching in his sleep and Junko contentedly sucking his thumb. Once again, no Radarr.

I was about to get up to go look for him when I realized something warm was on my shoulder. I looked down a let a small grin creep onto my face. Sometime during the night I guess Piper must have decided that my shoulder was a pillow.

Not wanting to disturb her, I decided to stay where I was for a while, trying to figure out where Radarr could have run off to.

My eyes swept the cell once more just in case I had missed something, but I still couldn't see any sign or clue as to where Radarr could be.

I chuckled as I heard a soft growl coming from above my head. Radarr being the goof he was had climbed up unto my head during the night.

A few minutes later I heard the echoes of footsteps and jangling keys approaching our cells. I gently shook Piper awake.

"Huh?" Piper mumbled as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"Someone's coming." I said simply as I pried Radarr off of my head. He wasn't happy at first but then he heard the footsteps too.

The footsteps stopped in front of our cells. I glanced up from the putrid floor my cell to meet a pair of blood red eyes.

"Dark Ace!" I hissed as I stood up. He simply laughed in reply, waking Finn and Junko from their slumber.

"Where are we?" I heard Junko say.

"I don't know…." Finn started to say before he caught sight of the Dark Ace.

Immediately following he let out one of his signature girly screams as he instinctively tried to jump into Junko's arms. Unfortunately for Finn, and much to the Dark Ace's amusement, Junko didn't catch Finn. Junko just stared at the Dark Ace. Confusion was written over his face, more so than usual.

"Owww…" Finn said as he got up from the floor. Rubbing his head, Finn seemed to forget about the Dark ace as he stared at Junko and said, "What was that for?" Finn crossed his arms before turning his back to Junko only to see the Dark Ace again.

"Ah!!" Finn screamed again repeating his earlier actions only to land on the floor once more.

Piper, now standing beside me, just shook her head at Finn's antics.

Turning and glaring at the Dark Ace I said icily, "What do you want from us?"

"Well if it were up to me, I would have simply let you fall to the wastelands where you would have met your doom, but it seems my Master has something else in mind for you. More or less that is."

I could only glare at the Dark Ace. At my feet Radarr gave a fierce growl. Radarr may not be able to talk, but he could usually tell if someone was a friend or a foe. He was the first one out of all of us to figure out Lark had been bad news.

The Dark Ace motioned to some of the Talons behind him and said, "Bring them to Master Cyclonis' throne room in an hour." The Talons nodded and stood guard at our cells as the Dark Ace left.

"Oh, and one more thing," The Dark Ace said turning around before walking through the doorway that I assumed lead to other parts of the palace. "No funny business from you Storm Hawks, or else I shall deal with you personally." He grinned maliciously as he walked out of sight.

Piper, Radarr and I retreated back into our cell and slumped against the wall. Finn and Junko followed suit from their cell. It seemed there was nothing else we could do but wait.

It wasn't like we could try and communicate to each other an escape plan with the Talons guarding us. It would be pointless. I just hoped that a means of escape would prevent itself soon, who knew what Cyclonis had planned for us.

Just as the Dark Ace had instructed, an hour later we were being led down a maze of hallways towards Master Cyclonis' throne room. So far, a means of escape had not presented itself.

We still had our weapons, but we were unable to use them in our cells. Last night Piper had figured out that the prison area and cells had been reinforced with blocking crystals. Our weapons had been all but useless.

They were just as useless now, with Talons carrying them. Sure we could just try and knock them out, but I think the whole Talon army had showed up to escort us to the throne room. There had to be over a hundred Talons around us. Ravess was leading the procession, while Snipe took up the rear.

We soon entered the throne room through two double doors with firebolt crystals embedded in them. We were now in a large circular room with the Dark Ace and Master Cyclonis standing in the centre. They had been expecting us.

"Master." Ravess said as she bowed and left the room with her brother Snipe, and half of the Talons that had been escorting us.

Master Cyclonis looked us over for a minute, then smiling said, "Welcome Storm Hawks. Did you find your accommodations comfortable?"

"Oh, not really." I said to her.

"Good." I rolled my eyes at her remark.

Turning to Piper, Master Cyclonis continued. "Ah, Piper! I'm so glad that my best friend finally came back, aren't you?"

"Hardly." Piper said indignantly. After Piper had said that, I saw a look of fierce determination on her face as she took out the Talon that was unlucky enough to be standing beside her. It also happened to be the Talon that had been holding her staff, and my energy blades.

"I'll take these thank you." She said mockingly to the Talon she had just taken care of. She charged up her staff before throwing me my blades. I quickly activated them, the reflection of blue energy dancing in my emerald eyes.

"So that's how you want to play." Master Cyclonis said as she took out her own staff and the Dark Ace ignited his sword.

Master Cyclonis and Piper rushed at each other. Master Cyclonis just wanted to hurt her 'best friend' while Piper actually had a plan. Piper used her staff and vaulted over a stunned Cyclonis' head. Piper landed skillfully and then used some of her stored up momentum to lash back with her staff to knock Cyclonis to the ground, but her staff just went through her.

Shocked, Piper tried hitting Master Cyclonis several more times, only to find that her staff passed through her easily as if she were made of air.

Evil laughter rang throughout the room as another Cyclonis floated down from the rafters above.

"Well done Piper, but you see that isn't really me." The new Master Cyclonis said.

Bewildered Piper looked from one Cyclonis to the other. A smile spread across Piper's face as she said "Nice holo crystal, but why send a hologram after me, it can't hurt me after all."

"I know it can't," Master Cyclonis began as she withdrew a green and yellow crystal out of her cloak. She activated it and her hologram vaporized into a cloud of yellowish green energy which floated back into the crystal. Looking up at Piper with an evil smirk on her face she continued, "But _I_ can!"

Piper charged up her staff to the max, and readied herself into a defensive position.

"Dark Ace, please take care of that pesky Sky Knight while I have a talk with my best friend."

"Of course Master, it would be my pleasure." He looked up and smirked at me.

I readied myself as the Dark Ace ran at me prepared to do battle. With his blade held ready to strike at any moment he jumped hoping his downward movement would strengthen his attack.

I quickly rolled out of the way and shot out a wide arc of energy, hoping it would catch him while he was still disoriented. He managed to jump over the wave, but the Talons behind him weren't so lucky. Some of them were knocked to the ground.

Finn and Junko quickly grabbed their weapons from a stunned Talon, and went off to dispatch any Talons that remained standing.

The Dark Ace came at me again. This time his sword connected with my blades and blue and red energy mingled together, seeming to wage a battle of their own. I mustered as much strength as I could and shoved the Dark Ace back and he fell to the floor. I took a few steps back, and feeling blue energy surrounding me, I leapt into the air performing my signature move, the Lightning Claw.

The Dark ace raised his arm in hopes to shield himself, but he was none the less propelled backwards into the wall. I winced as I heard his head collide with metal. His body soon slumped to the floor, unconscious.

"Serves you right." I muttered as I turned around to see how Piper was doing.

She was holding her own against the ruler of Cyclonia, but neither seemed to be gaining an advantage. I watched as Master Cyclonis backed away from Piper as she pulled the murky blue crystal out of her cape.

"Piper, look out!" I called to her. She turned around and looked at me, and then to the crystal Cyclonis held in her hands.

"No need to worry Piper, this crystal isn't for you; it's for your little friends!" She cried as bolts of energy flew from the crystal, first hitting Finn Junko and Radarr, and then she aimed one at me.

_Not again!_

I groaned as the blue energy struck my body. I collapsed on the floor as darkness tried to over take me.

"Aerrow!" Piper screamed as she ran and sat beside me.

I moaned again, the darkness was suffocating me. It felt as though it was trying to suck the life out of me.

"Piper…." I managed to croak before the darkness succeeded in engulfing me.

* * *

Piper's Point of View

I couldn't believe it. My worst fears were coming true. Just get me to join their side Cyclonis was willing to do anything, even dispose of my real friends.

I stood up fighting back to tears that moistened my orange eyes. I turned to Master Cyclonis, my sadness now turning into rage.

"Why? Why am I so important to you that you are willing to get rid of my friends just to get to me?"

Cyclonis just shrugged and said, "Because I can."

I wanted to scream! Here was a girl no older than me and yet she was so… so… evil. She was detached from her feelings and didn't care about a single soul in all the Atmos.

"I'll never join you!" I screamed defiantly as I raised my staff, prepared to fight once more.

"Oh you will. Sooner or later, when there is no where else to go, you will." With an evil smile adorning her face she pulled the blackout stone out from underneath her cape.

_Anything but that stupid crystal!_

"No!" I shouted as the black energy flew through the air and collided with my body, sending my backwards. I landed on the hard stone floor of the throne room as I fought with the impending darkness.

_No! This can't happen again! I can't let it get to me..._

The darkness was even stronger than the last time, it quickly washed over me, drowning me until light was no more.

_Why do I always have to be right? _

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**Sorry about the cliff hanger, but since the next chapter,_ Orders (Chapter #4) _, is rather short, it should be posted sometime tomorrow (hopefully), so take heart!**

**No one has guessed at what I will do to Piper's neckalce in this story yet, so Cookie #2 is still to be awarded. Try telling me after chapter 4, there is a very _slight_ clue I am hiding in that one!**

**Thanks again to everyone who has been reading and reviewing! Your comments honsetly help me make my story better!**

**Crimson Fox4**

**P.S. Message me if you have a better word for me to use to describe Piper's eyes other than orange!!**


	4. Orders

**Ok, Once again a big round of applause for Unleash The Shadow who is contiuning to help me edit this story.**

**My Profile is back to normal now, but this program almost drove me half mad, it kept saying that the document I was trying to upload was an empty document. Ugh.**

**Congrats to SakariWolfe for winning Cookie#4 for helping me figure out a better word to describe Piper's eyes other than orange. Go tangerine!**

**Sorry bout the cliff hanger last chapter! But be happy, I'm giving you the next chapter on the same day!**

**Alright, I don't own the Storm Hawks, Nerd Corps does (Of course you already knew that)**

**On with Chapter 4!**

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Chapter 4

_Orders_

I smiled at the unconscious Sky Knight squadron in front of me.

_Soon, the Storm Hawks will be no more!_

I turned around to see Dark Ace rising from the floor and look around the room before he started to walk towards me.

"I see your plan went well." He said as he strode up to me.

"Of course it did." I said as I turned to him and smirked. "You would make a very good actor Dark Ace."

"What do you mean?" He asked me with a hint of confusion in his voice betraying his outer actions of confidence.

"I mean that you made your loss against Aerrow look very natural, especially when you hit the wall. Even afterwards you made a very convincing unconscious person."

I smirked as he gave his answer, "Well, you see, umm…."

"Don't worry, it will be our secret if you can have your men follow my orders accurately. Have them dump the wallop, sharpshooter, Sky Knight, and whatever that thing is into the wastelands" I said as I pointed to the rabbit, dog, mouse, looking creature that always seemed to be accompanying the Storm Hawks.

"Of course Master." The Dark Ace said bowing slightly. "But if I may ask, why didn't you just dump them into the wastelands the first time they were unconscious?"

"It wasn't part of my plan. Besides what just unfolded a few moments ago was much more amusing."

"Of course Master."

"Now go and follow my orders. They will be knocked out for another hour or so, so you have time to enjoy it if you wish.

They Dark Ace grinned wickedly; as I am sure the thought of being able to watch the Storm Hawks be finished once and for all was to his liking.

He frowned slightly though as he asked, "And the girl?"

"Throw her back into the dungeon. I doubt that she will be up for a while."

He nodded and summoned his Talons that had managed to pick themselves off of the floor. He shouted orders as each Talon picked up a fallen Storm Hawk, although four had to carry the wallop.

I swore I thought that I saw the Sky Knight's eyes blink, but it must have been my imagination, as the knockout crystal's effects lasted for an hour. I turned back to my work as the doors closed behind the Dark Ace and the Talons. Something else unusual had happened during the fight.

_I can't put my finger on it but after I shot down her Sky Knight, it seemed as though the crystal on Piper's necklace had glowed for a moment before dieing._

I shrugged it off as a figment of my imagination and returned once more to my work. As the evil ruler of the Cyclonian Empire, my work was never done.

* * *

**Sorry that this Chapter was so short, it was one of those chapters that is important to the plot, but not very colourful. Do you know what I mean?**

**Well anyways, Sorry to SakariWolfe and any others that got the impression that I may have killed the Storm Hawks last time! (I guess the way I wrote it, it kind of sounded that way...) I'm not so evil that I would kill my fave characters... yet **

**_Darts eyes evily_**

**Review if you please!**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS My next update might not be for a while considering I have to go back to school soon, and i won't have much free time in general until Saturday night/Sunday. Sorry!! I'll make sure to update my Snippet section soon tough!**


	5. In the Knick of Time

**More thanks goes to Unleash The Shadow for editing this chapter!**

**Cookie#4 and #5 have been awarded to SakariWolfe. (Cookie Challenges are on my Profile page if you don't get what I'm talking about) Cookie Challenge #2 is still up, but only up until I post Chapter 7, _Broken Chains, Secrets Revealed_**

**Ok, lots of POV switching in this chapter, but I pointed out when things change so that you don't get confused... This Chapter starts of in Aerrow's point of view. (This chapter also crosses over slightly with the last chapter as far as timing goes...)**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, Nerd Corps does (You should know this by now...)**

**Presenting Chapter 5!!**

* * *

Chapter 5

_In the Knick of Time_

The pain in my head was slowly bringing me back to consciousness. I opened my eyes for a split second before closing them.

In that second I had seen Master Cyclonis and the Dark Ace talking.

"And the girl?" The Dark Ace said questioning his Master.

"Throw her back in the dungeon." Master Cyclonis stated, and then added, "I doubt that she will be up for a while."

_Oh no! Master Cyclonis must have hit Piper with the blackout crystal again! She'll be out for days._

A wave of remorse washed over my body as a lowly Talon picked me up and followed the Dark Ace into the hallway.

_I told Piper I wouldn't let anything happen to her..._

"You, Talon with the girl," I heard the Dark Ace say to the right of me, "Follow me to the dungeon. The rest of you, I'll meet you in Talon headquarters in a few minutes. Can you manage to get there without anything going wrong?"

I could just picture the looks on the faces of the Talons given the job of transporting us to Talon headquarters. Fear would probably be the most common feature at the moment I bet.

"Y-y-yes sir." I heard one of the Talons stutter.

"Good." The Dark Ace said, his footsteps echoing down the hallway.

I soon felt the talon under me start walking forward, while the ring of footsteps headed the opposite way entered my ears. I risked looking back to see where the Dark Ace was taking Piper. I hoped beyond all hope that there weren't any Talons behind me.

I quickly glanced up and I saw the Dark Ace and the Talon carrying Piper turn down a corridor off of the main hall.

I quickly shut my eyes again in the hopes that the Talons would be oblivious to the fact that I had woken up. I also wished that the others would be smart enough to do the same if they came to before we were at Talon headquarters.

Many twists and turns later, I was dumped onto a hard floor, along with Junko Finn and Radarr. I made sure that I didn't even flinch as I hit the cold hard surface.

_I can't let them know I'm awake._

Should we have somebody watch them?" A Talon that was hovering above us asked another.

"Of course not." The other said. "They're knocked out, it's not like they are going to get up and walk off."

"I guess you're right." The first Talon said as they walked out of the small room they had dumped us in to go and join their other colleagues.

_I'd love to get up right now and just walk out of here – if I could._

I sighed and I slowly opened my eyes and glanced at my friends. Once I was confident that the Talons were out of range I whispered quietly, "Are you guys awake?"

Finn just opened one of his sapphire eyes and looked at me with a smirk plastered on his face where as Junko gave a very slight nod and Radarr let out a quiet chirp.

I quickly hushed Radarr as I heard approaching footsteps.

"Are they in there?" I heard a familiar voice say.

_Dark Ace!_

"Yes sir!" A Talon said just a little too gleefully for my liking.

"Good. Go fetch them and follow me to the edge of the terra. They have a meeting with the wastelands to keep." Evil laughter resonated in my ears as the Dark Ace walked back down the hallway.

Several Talons groaned as they hefted us unto their backs and quickly tried to follow the Dark Ace.

After another twisting maze of hallways we were outside of the Cyclonian Palace. You could tell because out here you could hear the thunder a lot clearer, and I could feel the wind flipping my hair every which way.

The Talons soon came to a halt as the Dark Ace said, "Here we are, through them over the edge!"

With a great heave the Talons tossed us over the edge of the terra with their evil laughter following us.

Opening my eyes, I said to the others freefalling around me, "Once we are through those clouds, pull your parachutes!"

"You don't have to ask me twice!" Finn cried as we fell into the cloud cover.

As the wind caught the material of my friend's parachutes, I reached behind my back, and moments later I was circling my friends with my battle glider. "I'm going to go get help!" I called, loud enough so that they could hear me, and anyone still above on the terra wouldn't.

"Are you crazy Aerrow?" Finn said while Radarr screeched in agreement.

"I'll be fine Finn, and so will you. You've got the toughest wallop in all the Atmos protecting you, remember?"

Finn just mumbled while Junko nodded at what I had just said.

I quickly flew off towards Amazonia, as I doubted that Stork and the Condor would've moved too far away from there. Luckily for me, Amazonia wasn't too far away from Cyclonia.

For the next hour or so, I stuck to the clouds as much as possible while still trying to stay in flight by catching any updrafts of wind that I came across.

I soon spotted the terra of Amazonia to my right, and the uncharted terra to the left.

After a few more minutes of gliding I landed on the uncharted terra. Where Stork was, I had no idea.

* * *

Finn's POV

A little bit after Aerrow left, Junko Radarr and I floated down gently into the Wastelands. Thankfully because we landed close to the terra it was mostly solid rock instead of the usual lava and shooting balls of flaming rock.

I sighed and looked at Junko.

"I guess we just wait now." I stared up at the clouds until an idea hit me. "Did you ever here the joke about the blind skoat?" I asked.

* * *

Aerrow's POV

After walking around the perimeter of the terra for about the fifth time, I was beginning to wonder if Stork had stayed on the terra like Piper had told him to. I turned around and stared at the oddly shaped mountain in the centre of the terra.

_Wait a second; Piper never said anything about a mountain on this terra..._

I quickly ran up to the Mountain and gingerly put my hand on it. As my hand seemed to disappear into thin air, I smiled.

_Good old Stork, I knew he wouldn't abandon us. Piper would have his head if he did._

As I walked through the holographic force field that Stork had rigged up, I walked up to the Condor and simply stared at it. Boy was it a sight for sore eyes!

"Stork?" I called out as I pressed a hidden button that made a ramp flip down. I yelled for Stork again as I reached the top of the ramp. "Stork?"

_Now where could that merb be?_

I slowly walked into the hangar bay, looked around, and then headed onto the bridge.

"Stork?" I called out again as I entered the bridge.

"Who? What? Where? How?" Stork said popping out of no where. "Oh, it's just you." He said calming down for a minute. "Where have you been?" He yelled in my face.

"Easy Stork," I said putting my hands in front of me in defense. "It's been a long couple of days. I'll explain later but right now I need you to go the skimmer bay and get the Stork Mobile ready to go."

Stork looked at me with his eye twitching and said, "You aren't asking me to leave the Condor are you?"

"Yes I am Stork." Seeing the crest-fallen look on his face I said, "I'm sorry Stork but Finn, Junko and Radarr are probably scared half to death right now sitting in the wastelands at the base of Cyclonia!"

"Cy-Cy-Cyclonia?" Stork said, his eye's twitching becoming more obvious.

"Don't worry Stork I have a plan." I was about to run out of the room when I turned around and said, "You don't happen to know what happened to my skimmer, do you?"

"It would have been in the Wastelands if I hadn't rescued it along with everyone else's skimmers like usual." Stork replied.

"Thanks Stork, you're a life saver!" I cried as I ran off down the hall towards Piper's lab. There was just one more thing I needed before we went to save Finn, Junko, and Radarr.

* * *

Junko's POV

I know Finn was trying to be amusing and all, but too many of his jokes could not be good for one's health. I just smiled at his jokes, and hoped that Aerrow would come back soon.

A Talon was bound to spot us eventually, or like Stork would say, "Finn's jokes will cause someone a slow and painful death one day." I was beginning to wonder if that person would be me.

* * *

Aerrow's POV

Racing into Piper's lab, I quickly searched for what I needed. She could kill me later for making a mess, but I really needed a couple of invisi crystals. Finally, I found the box labeled 'Invisi Crystals'.

_Thank goodness that Piper is so organized!_

I quickly grabbed two of the see-through crystals and raced back to the hangar bay to meet up with Stork.

When I reached the hangar bay, I saw that Stork was doing some last minute tuning on his Storkmobile.

I walked over and asked, "Are you ready?"

"To meet my inevitable demise?" Stork said, the twitch in his eye coming back. "I guess so." He quickly pulled a paper out of his pocket and handed it to me. I gave him a confused look and he simply said, "My will."

Rolling my eyes I took his will and put it in my pocket as I gave him one of the crystals.

"What do I need an Invisible Crystal for?" Stork said as he looked the crystal over quizzically.

"Not for you," I began, "For your skimmer." This time it was Stork's turn to stare at me blankly. Sighing I said, "If we put them into the crystal converters in our skimmers, it will make them, and us invisible.

Without having to be told twice Stork jumped into the Storkmoblile and threw the invisi crystal into his converter. In a flash of bright light Stork had become invisible.

"Smart…" I heard Stork say. "Now we won't be seen by Cyclonian border patrols."

"Just my thoughts." I said as I threw my invisi crystal into my crystal converter.

"Let's fly!" I yelled as we flew off of the Condor and into the sky.

15 minutes later Stork and I had landed next to Junko, Finn and Radarr. They all let a yelp when we took the crystals out of our converters to reveal ourselves.

"Dude!" Finn said as he and Radarr climbed onto my skimmer, while Junko climbed onto Stork's.

Once again using the invisi crystals to make us and our rides invisible, we took to the skies once more. We managed to avoid all of the Cyclonian border patrols and had safely made it back to the uncharted terra.

"Umm Stork, why are you headed for that mountain…!" Junko's question turned into a scream that mingled with Finn's as we flew through the cloaking force field and landed on the Condor.

"Welcome back guys." I said as I jumped off of my skimmer. I grabbed the two invisi crystals we had used and headed towards Piper's lab to put them back.

As I was about to go through the door into Piper's lab, when an idea hit me.

Grinning, I ran down the hall and into my room. My eyes scanned my floor until they came to rest on a pair of shoes Piper had made for me recently. I walked over grabbed them, and applied pressure to a certain part of the arch, and a small panel in the heel opened up to reveal two specially made chroma crystals.

Piper had taken a pair of my shoes a couple of months ago to add special features to them for when I had to go on stealth missions.

Features such as the chroma crystals that would shield my identity and a special field around the heel so that leech crystals or blocking crystals could affect them. The field also wouldn't allow the chroma crystals to show up on a crystal scanner.

I quickly slipped on the shoes, and before heading back to the bridge, I grabbed a few more invisi crystals from Piper's lab.

As I walked onto the bridge I said, "I'm going after Piper."

Finn turned around and looked at me like I was some sort of physco. "Dude," he began, "You can not be serious. We just managed to get away from there, how are you not going to get caught? If they catch you, they are going to find out they didn't kill us after all and they'll hunt the rest of us down like dogs."

"I know, I know Finn, but I have it under control." I said as I bent down and hit another hidden button on my shoes. With a flash of light, I didn't look like me anymore.

Looking at my reflection in a window I saw that my hair had changed to a dark brown, my eyes were now a hazel colour, and the colours and design of my clothes had changed as well.

Looking around the bridge I saw a dark green toque lying on the table from our trip to meet the Absolute Zeroes.

Pulling it onto my head I turned to the guys and said, "What do you think?"

Everyone was speechless except for Stork, "Yep, he's doomed."

* * *

Finn's POV

Later in the skimmer bay I walked up to Aerrow and said, "Are you sure you know what you're doing Aerrow?"

"Piper is trapped in Cyclonia Finn; I have to get her back."

"It's ok Dude, why don't you just let one of us come with you?"

"It would be too suspicious, especially if I took Radarr with me. Sorry Finn, I've got to do this on my own." That being said, He took of into the skies without another word.

"That boy is going to get smacked down so hard one of these days." I mumbled as I headed back up to the bridge.

**

* * *

**

Sorry if this chapter wasn't as good as you hoped... I kind of finished typing it at midinight so.. ya.

**People have been asking when Piper's necklace will come in, so heres the general layout : (Is subject to change)**

**Chapter 7- _Chains Broken, Secrets Revealed _- You will be given a general idea what the crystal does...**

**Chapter 8 - (Haven't thought of the title yet... either _Say What?_ or C****_onfessions _Let me know in your reviews which one you guys would prefer) - You are given the technical stuff about Piper's crystal, along with it's name. (Have a flashback planned in there as well)**

**So anyways... hope that answers some questions... (and don't forget to vote!!) Don't forget, you still have to wait for chapter 6 until you get any of that stuff! **

**Crimson Fox4**


	6. Captured?

**Thanks again go to Unleash The Shadow for editing my story.**

**Make sure to respond to Cookie Challenge #2 after this chapter, or before I post chapter 7, as in chapter 7 you get a glimpse at what Piper's crystal does, and then my challenge would be pointless. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out my profile page)**

**Ok... this Chapter is in Aerrow's perspective, the lines just indicate the passing of time. The program wouldn't let me put extra spaces between the paragraphs, so I improvised.**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks. They are the property of Nerd Corps. (You knew that right?)**

**Chapter six est fini!**

* * *

Chapter 6

_Captured?_

As I flew through the skies towards Cyclonia, I was wondering if Finn had been right.

_Now there's a scary thought, Finn being right about something!_

I grinned at my own joke as I landed on a small ledge that jutted out of the Cyclonian terra. I quickly got off, making sure to still be holding one of my skimmer's handle bars so that I would stay invisible.

I quickly threw the rest of the invisi crystals I had brought with me into the converter of my skimmer.

_That should keep it undetected for a few days. Hopefully I won't need anymore than that to get Piper off of this horrible terra._

Letting go of the handle bars, I checked my shoes to make sure nothing was wrong. Approaching the rock face in front of me, I quickly and skillfully made my way to the top.

Before hauling myself onto the terra, I scanned the grounds in front of me, looking to make sure there weren't any Talons.

I waited for a minute or so before I heaved myself onto the terra, and I took off trying to find cover. I had noticed a small outbuilding of sorts when I was hanging off the side of the terra, but it didn't seem to be getting closer as I ran towards it.

Eventually, I was able to dive behind the building and give a small sigh of relief.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" I cringed as someone behind me spoke. I turned around to see a single Talon pointing his staff at me.

"Me?" I asked trying to play innocent.

"Ya, you! Do you see anyone else around here?"

"Umm, no?" I replied as I looked around.

"Exactly, now come with me." The Talon said as he spun me around and shoved me forward.

_I could so take this guy out. Too bad it isn't part of my plan..._

* * *

After I had been scanned with a crystal detector, the Talon that had captured me pushed me forwards into the prison area. The sights that met me were all too familiar, but there weren't any empty cells like last time. Each one had an occupant.

"We just got a shipment from terra Zartacla, so the prison is pretty packed right now." I just nodded as the Talon stopped and opened up a cell to our left. "I hope you don't mind having a prison mate."

I walked into the dirty cell and looked at the small cot on the far side of the room. Someone was just lying down on it, not moving.

Curious I asked, "What happened to them?"

Locking the door behind me the Talon replied, "I'm not really sure, but my pal that had the throne room shift this morning said that after a big fight with the Storm Hawks Master Cyclonis hit them all with some crystal or another."

My heart skipped a beat at the news the Talon had just shared.

_Could it be?_

Continuing the Talon explained, "That girl there is the last of the Storm Hawks. The others were thrown off of the terra and into the Wastelands hours ago."

"Well that's good for Cyclonia I guess." I said trying to sound casual.

"You bet it is! Those Storm Hawks brats were always getting in the way of our plans. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to a staff party right now to celebrate the demise of the Storm Hawks squadron."

I shuddered as I walked over to the empty cot opposite to Piper's.

_It's sickening that they're having a party because they think they killed us._

I had the urge to walk over to Piper's cot and make sure that she was ok, but I couldn't blow my cover. I'd wait until everyone else was asleep to check up on her.

* * *

I yawned the next morning as I heard a plate of food being slid into my cell. I walked over, picked it up and put it onto the cot next to me. I wasn't sure if I wanted to eat the food they were giving me, for all I know it could be poisoned.

_I wouldn't put it past them._

I yawned again. I had stayed up for a long time last night making sure Piper was ok. After I was sure that her breathing was normal, I had went back to my cot to get some sleep, but I couldn't get to bed.

When I had managed to get to sleep, I slept fitfully as nightmares had plagued my mind all night. I sighed as I looked out the window of the cell. It was light outside, that's about all you could tell because the window was so small.

* * *

In the middle of my third day being a prisoner on Cyclonia I had seen Piper's leg move slightly, and her breathing had deepened to a more normal pace. I figured that she had woken up, but was pretending to still be out of it in hopes that the Talons wouldn't be smart enough to realize she had come to.

_Tonight's the night. The night we get out of here!_

* * *

**Sorry that this chapter was so short, but its taking the same place as chapter 4 did. Its just something that isn't extremely colourful that ties the story together.**

**I would have posted this yesterday, but I was having internet issues. More specifically, lack of internet . **

**I'm also in need of your votes for the title of chapter 8.**

**It's between 'Confessions' and 'Say what?'**

**This might be my last update for a while as I have a busy schedule, and Chapter 7 is gonna be a long one. Maybe I'll go work on it now...**

**Crimson Fox4**


	7. Chains Broken, Secrets Revealed

**More thanks go to Unleash The Shadow for their help in editing this story and helping me become a better writer. **

**Sorry that it has taken me so long to update, I've just had lots of homework lately, soccer try-outs and so much more. We're also renovating my house so that takes up some time as well.**

**Well I know you guys are excited for this chapter ( Everyone one has been telling me to update SOON!!) so lets get on with it! (This chapter starts in Aerrow's perspective by the way)**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks. They are the property of Nerd Corps. (Of course you should know that by now.)**

**Chapter 7!! Finally!!**

* * *

Chapter 7

_Chains Broken, Secrets Revealed_

It was an hour past lights out, and I could hear the snoring of the guards that were stationed at the end of the hallway. I quickly crept over to Piper's bunk and gently shook her shoulders in hopes that she would wake up.

"Piper? Piper can you hear me?" I whispered quietly to her with urgency in my voice.

She stirred and I could hear her say softly "Hmm?"

"Piper, it's me, A-" I began before she whispered something to herself.

"A- Aer- Aerrow?" she asked in surprise, as she turned her body around so that she could see me. She looked at me through squinted eyes, and then with a disappointed look on her face she said, "You're not Aerrow."

"But I am…" I began before she cut me off again.

"No, you're not. You don't look a thing like him."

I groaned.

_The chroma crystals! I totally forgot about them! She doesn't think it's me because I'm disguised!_

I looked down at her crest-fallen face and sighed.

_How can I convince her it's me? I can't deactivate the crystals; they give off too much light. It would wake everyone up and I'd be exposed._

A sudden idea popped into my brain and I whispered, "Of course I'm Aerrow! Look! These are the shoes you made me for my stealth missions, remember?"

"What?" She said in surprise. Looking at me and then my shoes, she got up so that she was sitting on the cot and she said, "Let me see!"

I took off one of the shoes and handed it to her. Some of the power of the chroma crystals being taken away made it so that I wasn't disguised as well, and there was a small flash of dim white light.

When I looked at myself, nothing seemed to have changed. Then I caught sight of my hair. It had gone from a brown to a reddish brown with red tips.

Piper seemed to have noticed the change. She looked down at my shoe, and then back at me. She smiled as she reached up held a clump of my hair between her fingers. She then looked at my eyes and smiled.

"I'd know those green eyes anywhere." She said, the smile on her face growing bigger. I had to grin along with her.

In a sudden rush of movement, Piper had flung her arms around my neck and hugged me.

_Well, I sure wasn't expecting that, but I'm not complaining._

I hugged her back, and after a few moments she pulled away and said, "I knew you'd come back!"

"You can't get rid of me that easily." I told her.

She smiled again and gave me back my shoe. Putting my shoe on I said, "I have an explosion crystal with me, but somehow it seems inappropriate in this situation."

"You're right, that would make a lot of noise."

"Any other ideas?"

Piper pondered my question, while she toyed around with her necklace.

_She always does that when she needs to think hard about something. Wait a second, is it just me or is the crystal on her necklace glowing a bit?_

I stared at her crystal for a few seconds before I said, "Piper, is your necklace glowing? I thought you said that crystal is a dud."

"Huh?" She looked down at the crystal around her neck. "I did, I mean I thought so, maybe, it might be, I'm not really sure.…" Piper looked really confused. "It must just be the moonlight."

"Ok." I had never seen her crystal do that on any of our late night missions, but then again we always stuck to the clouds for cover.

_Maybe it is just the moonlight._

"So do you have any ideas how we can get out of here?" I asked Piper again.

Piper seemed deep in thought again until her head snapped up, and she looked at me through the midnight blue bangs that had fallen across her face.

"I wonder…." She said as she pulled off her own shoe. I just looked at her confused.

_Her shoe? What does that have to do with anything?_

Seeing my confusion, she said, "Where do you think I got the idea for your shoes?" She pressed a small button on the arc of her shoe and a small compartment flipped open.

_A compartment just big enough to fit a crystal._

"What is it?" I asked as I looked into the small hole.

"It's a crystal I made a while ago." Piper began, and then explaining she said, "It's an escape crystal."

"What does it do?" I asked as she shut the compartment. "And why didn't you bring it out?"

"It's going to help us escape, and if I bring it out of the compartment, it's going to be useless to us. Remember the blocking crystals?"

"Right…." I said just remembering that small detail.

"Ok, you ready to get out of here?" Piper asked.

"I was ready to get out of here the moment I got here."

Smiling, Piper grabbed onto my wrist.

_What is she doing?_

"Sorry," Piper began, "But for this to get both of us out we need to be connected some how."

I just nodded my head as Piper pressed another button hidden away in her shoe. At first I thought nothing had happened, but then I looked down at my hand to see that it was transparent and distorted.

"Piper?" I asked.

"I'll explain later, this crystal doesn't last for too long, so come on!" Piper said as she pulled me towards the wall.

"Wait a second…" I said before she pulled me through the wall.

We were outside of the cell. Piper's crystal, whatever it does, worked!

"Wow." I said as I looked down at my hand that was slowly turning back to normal.

Piper let go of my hand and then bent down and pressed another button on her shoe and she turned back to normal as well.

_Note to self: escape crystals are awesome._

Not only were we outside of the cell, we were also outside of Master Cyclonis' castle like building.

I was about to get Piper to follow me to where I had hidden my skimmer when I heard footsteps approaching from around the corner. Instead of getting her to follow me, I put a hand over her mouth, and then grabbed around her waist to pull her back into the shadows as the Dark Ace and a group of Talons came around the corner.

Piper had stopped struggling when she noticed what I had just saved her from.

We both tensed and held our breaths as the Talons walked past our hiding place and continued around another corner of the building.

Exhaling, I felt slightly safer now that the Cyclonians were gone.

_I'm going to have to get to my skimmer as soon as possible. I just hope its still there._

"Umm, Aerrow?" I heard Piper say.

"Ya?"

"You can let go now." Looking down, I realized that I still had my arm around her waist from when I had pulled her into the shadows.

_Wait a second, is her crystal glowing again? We're in the shadows, how can moonlight be reaching it?_

"Aerrow?" Piper said to me again because I was to busy thinking about her crystal to realize that I still had my hand around her waist.

"What?" I said. Piper just looked down at my hand in response. "Oh, right. Sorry." I said hastily as I removed my hand from her waist and I stepped back a bit.

I began to rub the back of my head in embarrassment when I noticed that the glow from the crystal on Piper's necklace had begun to weaken, despite the fact that she had now inched into the moonlight.

_This isn't adding up, she still isn't telling me something._

Ignoring my thoughts, I turned to the task at hand. "Come on, I left my skimmer this way."

Piper nodded as she followed me to the outbuilding I had hid behind earlier. From there I raced over to where I had climbed up.

"Jump!" I called to her.

Stopping at the edge she replied, "Are you crazy?"

"Just trust me!" I called as I ran past her and jumped.

I fell maybe ten feet before I hit solid terra again. Turning my head upwards toward the terra, I saw Piper shut her eyes and jump.

_She is going to hurt herself if she doesn't look where she's going!_

I quickly turned around and caught her in my arms.

"Hello." I said grinning at her.

"Hi."

"I'm glad you dropped in." I said as I helped her stand.

"Me too." She said joking back.

When a flash of light came from behind me, I looked over my shoulder to see my skimmer's location revealed.

_Well that was lucky._

"Come on!" I said as I jumped onto my skimmer.

"Where's the rest of the team?" Piper said looking around, as though she thought that the others had disguised themselves as well.

"They're a lot safer than we are at the moment." Piper just looked at me with question written all over her face. Continuing I explained, "They're still on the uncharted terra you found, now come on!"

Piper nodded as she jumped on behind me.

* * *

Piper's POV

I sighed as I was no longer able to see the terrible terra of Cyclonia behind me.

_I never want to go back there again._

I shuddered.

_Why did Aerrow risk his life to save me? They could have caught him, and then he would have been in serious trouble. How did he and the guys even escape? There is still so much I don't know about what has been going on these past few days. I hope Aerrow will tell me._

I looked towards the Eastern horizon to see the first small rays of light from the sun, indicating a new day had begun.

_This day also marks the start of a new part of my life, the part where Aerrow will stop at nothing to find out what my crystal does. I was going to tell him sooner or later, I just hadn't counted on me having to tell him this soon. I mean, I was kind of hoping for the later option. You know, the later option, as in much later, as in never?_

I shoved my thoughts towards the back of my mind as I returned to reality.

"It's not activated by moonlight, is it?" Aerrow asked, activating the auto-pilot and turning around to face me. I just looked down at the seat.

"No." I whispered, hoping he didn't hear.

"Then what has made it keep lighting up for the past while?"

"I, I don't really know yet, but I'm trying to figure it out." I said, still staring at the seat of Aerrow's skimmer.

_It's true. I'm not really sure what has made it glow lately. The only reason why it would glow hasn't really happened yet. The only time it might have happened is when I was fighting Cyclonis, but I was too busy to notice or check._

_And it couldn't be the other reason… could it?_

_Why does this crystal have to be so mysterious? I wish that my mom had told me more about its abilities._

_And mine._

I frowned forgetting that Aerrow was still turned around.

"What's the matter Piper?" He said with concern in his voice. "I'm sure you'll figure out what it does eventually." I could only nod in response.

_I already know what it does, but I don't think you want to know..._

_Why does it have to be so hard to keep secrets from you? I've kept this one ever since I met you when I was five. Its been ten years since then. Why is it getting so hard?_

I looked up at his big emerald eyes. They were filled with understanding.

_He wants to help me understand. He wants me to help him understand. _

I looked behind his mop of red hair, and I couldn't help it, but my chin dropped, and my mouth was open wide.

"What?" Aerrow asked.

I slowly turned his head around until he was able to see what I was seeing.

"Oh no." Aerrow said, turning around and switching off the auto-pilot. He had noticed the group of Cyclonian border patrols that were to the North of us.

"There isn't even any cloud cover for us to try and hide in." Aerrow said, skimming the sky with his eyes.

He was right; it was an unusual sight to see that the sky was practically free of clouds.

_He's desperate to get out of here and the skimmer's crystal fuel is already low as it is. _

"Do you have any invisi crystals left?" I asked Aerrow.

"No I used them all to hide the skimmer from ay patrols while I was in Cyclonia." Aerrow said.

_Well, then its time for a distraction. I just hope Aerrow will understand..._

I slowly got up from where I was sitting and stood up staring down into the Wastelands that were below me.

"What are you doing Piper?" Aerrow said turning around and looking at me in confusion.

"Something I should have done a long time ago…"

"Piper!" He shouted as he grabbed my wrist and restrained me from jumping off of the skimmer.

"You have to let go Aerrow, I can save us."

"How Piper? By diving into the Wastelands?"

Looking at Aerrow with pleading eyes, I whispered tensely, "You have to trust me Aerrow!"

Aerrow just looked at me bewildered. You could tell a battle was raging inside of him. I didn't blame him.

_What I'm about to do is scary enough, how will he take it though?_

"Please Aerrow, just trust me on this." I pleaded. Aerrow looked at the sincerity in my eyes, and I could see the determination in his emerald orbs slowly fade.

He hesitantly loosened his grip on my wrist, but he didn't fully let go.

I quickly glanced down at my crystal. It was glowing with a radiant blue energy.

"I'll be fine Aerrow; you just have to trust me!" I said to him as the Talons continued to get closer.

Finally Aerrow let go of my wrist, and he looked down at the seat of his skimmer. "Be careful." He murmured.

"No promises." I replied as I dived off of his skimmer and into the sky below.

_I just hope this works..._

* * *

Aerrow's POV

"Piper!" I yelled as one of my best friends dived towards the Wastelands.

I gunned my skimmer's engines, and dove after her. I was soon along side of her and I called out, "Piper! Piper! Grab on!"

Piper just kept falling. It seemed as though she hadn't even heard me. Her head was pointed towards the Wastelands, her orange eyes open, staring straight ahead.

"Piper?"

There was something different about her eyes though, they were flashing with a light blue energy.

_The same colour as her crystal._

I kept my skimmer alongside Piper as we continued to dive. I looked over at her again only to notice a pulsing light of energy coming from within the crystal around her neck. The energy slowly enveloped her body, until she was just a streak of blue light across the sky.

I looked at her eyes again. The orange in them were almost gone.

Piper shut her eyes tightly, and then when she opened them, tangerine was mixed with the light blue energy, but there was something even more noticeable.

_Fire? How can her eyes be on fire?_

I'd always known Piper to have a fire in her heart to do the right thing, but this was getting ridiculous.

The blue energy that was surrounding her body was soon intermingled with a deep red-orange energy that looked a whole lot like fire.

_What in the Atmos is going on here?_

I looked at Piper one last time before a brilliant flash of light blue energy blinded me.

I cried out in surprise as my skimmer came to a halt.

Slowly, I opened my eyes.

_No, no, no!_

I looked at the skies all around me.

_No!_

I looked into a small cloud below me to see another flash of bright blue, followed by a steady glow of light that was soon headed towards me.

I was astonished at what came out of the clouds.

_What was a phoenix doing down there?_

The Phoenix screamed in anger as it flew past me and towards the Talons.

I looked down into the cloud once more, and my stomach hit rock bottom.

There was n_o way Piper could have survived that fall, and I've wasted too much time to go and catch her._

I sighed as I landed on a small terra in front of me.

I climbed off of my skimmer and looked at the flaming bird screeching at the Talons. The phoenix was either burning their skimmers to a crisp from the intense heat of its flames or slicing the Cyclonian skimmers in half with its long sharp claws.

I kicked the dirt next to my skimmer.

_It's all that dumb bird's fault. If it hadn't gotten in my way, I could have saved Piper!_

My anger turned once again to sadness as I realized something.

_Piper's gone forever, and she's never coming back. I'll never see her beautiful eyes again._

I was fighting the tears that were forming in my eyes when the Phoenix landed in front of me. Staring at it, my anger came back to me.

"What do you want?" I screamed at it.

"Because of you I lost my friend. I'm never going to get her back or see her again! I'm never going to be able to tell her that she was the best friend I've ever had! I'll never get to tell her…" I stopped my ranting when I saw that the creature was just staring at me.

"Well go ahead, kill me! I don't care anymore!" I yelled at it, the tears in my eyes finally overflowing down onto my cheeks. "Just kill me."

Again the Phoenix didn't move towards me. It just stood there with hurt and confusion in its flaming eyes. Yet there seemed to be understanding hidden in them as well. That's when I noticed something.

Its eyes weren't completely engulfed in flame; there was a hint of familiar tangerine in them, and there was something hanging around its neck.

_A necklace? With a crystal?_

The crystal wasn't even a phoenix crystal; it was a small delicate light blue crystal.

A light blue cloud of energy swirled around the creature. For a while, the blue energy was mixed with fire, but soon the fire died away.

When the cloud dissipated, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was Piper, standing right in front of me.

_This has to be a dream._

"Piper?" I whispered in awe.

Piper just smiled. She started to say something, but then she fell to the ground in pain.

I was too shocked to move. I just stood where I was, my feet planted as though I was a statue.

Piper was now on her hands and knees, staring at the terra, trying to regain her strength. She looked up at me with pleading eyes that kept flickering from orange to light blue, to a fiery look. Finally, her eyes returned to their natural tangerine.

Piper moaned as she collapsed, all of her strength spent.

"Piper!"

* * *

**What did you guys think of that chapter? I hope you all liked it! (Seriously, I spent two hours straight after soccer yesterday night to type from the first POV view change on!)**

**Well, I just wanted to let you all know that because school is back on again I won't be updating as quick as I did on the Easter weekend. ( I had a 4 day weekend with no homework so all I was doing was typing and hanging out with my family) Like i said before, I now have school, homework, soccer, and an all day long v-ball tourney tomorrow, so I won't get any typing in on Saturday:( I actually also have homework for once, so Sunday will be full too.)**

**I'm really sorry for those of you who are really getting into this fic! I'll try and update as soon as possible, and check out my profile between updates as well, because usually you can find out there how far I am with the next chapter.**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS Cookie Challenge 2 is still open, as there is still a lot more to do with Piper's crystal than meets the eye in this chapter.**

**Also I still need you guys to vote for the chapter title for chapter #8 (See my profile for info)**


	8. Confessions and Memories Part 1

**I again owe many thanks to Unleash The Shadow for their amazing ability to help me make my writing better and better with each chapter.**

**Alright, here is chapter 8, kind of. This part is already over 3,000 and I'm not done where I wanted chapter 8 to end, so this is chapter 8 part 1!**

**As far as the contest for naming of the chapter, I ended up using confessions, and I added a bit to it. (The poll was tied, so what was I supposed to do?) Oh, and Cookie Challenge two is still open until I post part 2 of this chapter, which could be another couple of days yet. MAYBE mid -weekish?? Anyways... enough of my rambling!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks. They belong to Nerd Corps. (I thought we've already covered this...)**

**On with Chapter 8, Part One!**

* * *

Chapter 8

_Confessions and Memories_

_**Part One**_

"Piper!" I yelled as I raced over to where her unconscious form was laying.

Still not believing what I had just seen, I leaned down towards Piper and gently put my hand on her back, and then I snapped my hand back as though her back was on fire.

_Well, I guess it was a few minutes ago, but I just can't believe Piper's fine, that she's alive, and that I'm not dreaming._

I looked down at Piper again, and then picking her up and holding her in my arms I walked over to my skimmer.

_How could Piper have been able to keep this secret from me, and what is the deal with that crystal? It almost seemed to be at the heart of things._

I mounted my skimmer and carefully set Piper down on the seat behind me, positioning her so that she wouldn't fall off.

_Well, the least I can do for her now is get her back to the Condor safe and sound. After that, we'll see what sort of secrets she has been hiding from me all of these years._

* * *

Finn's POV

Sighing, I looked out one of the large windows on the Condor's bridge.

_Still no sign of Aerrow. What has happened to that boy?_

I turned around only to run into Junko.

"Hey big buddy!" I said as I side stepped him.

"Any luck seeing Aerrow yet?" Junko asked with optimism in his voice. I could only shake my head no, "Oh." Was Junko's reply as he walked past me to take his turn watching out the window.

I hated seeing Junko so sad, so I assured him it would be ok. "It's alright Junko. Aerrow's been through worse, I'm sure he'll be fine." Junko just nodded in reply.

I was about to turn around and leave, but then I saw a spec in the sky that was oddly familiar.

"Huh?" I mumbled to myself as I rushed to the window and squished my face up against it.

Looking at me like I had gone crazy Stork that had otherwise been quiet since Aerrow left said, "You don't have mind worms do you?" His eye began to twitch as he said, "We should all be tested."

"Chill Stork," I began, "I just think I see something."

"Really?" Junko and Stork cried as they rushed over and tried to look over my shoulder.

"Uh guys… can't breathe!" I said hoarsely as I was sandwiched between the glass window and a Wallop and Merb.

"Sorry." Junko said as he stepped back a little. I gasped for air, and then I looked back out the window. The spec had turned into the shape of an approaching skimmer.

Stork rushed to the periscope, and laughing nervously he said, "He survived? Maybe he isn't as doomed as I thought. For now…."

I shuddered at Stork's paranoia before I turned to Junko and said, "Come on lets go down to the hangar bay, he'll be here any minute!" Junko nodded enthusiastically as he raced off of the bridge and towards the hangar bay. I was about to follow him when I saw that Stork hadn't moved an inch. "Aren't you coming Stork?"

"And risk catching whatever type of diseases he picked up in Cyclonia? Never!"

I shrugged as I ran off to the hangar bay.

I skidded through the door and was met by Junko's long face.

_What's with him?_

That's when I noticed what he was looking at.

Aerrow had landed, and he didn't look too good. He looked totally drained of energy, and he seemed to be off in his own world. Aerrow had already parked his skimmer, and I could tell that it wasn't just Aerrow that Junko was worried about.

"Dude, what happened to you guys?" I said to Aerrow as he walked up to us with Piper in his arms.

"Cyclonia, border patrols, a phoenix, you know everyday stuff." Aerrow said trying to convince us everything was fine.

"Dude, you still don't look too good."

"I'll be fine Finn, I more worried about Piper." Aerrow said to me as he looked down at the girl in his hands.

"You want me to take Piper to her room or something?" Junko asked.

"It's alright Junko, I can handle it, but thanks anyways." Junko nodded as Aerrow walked past him.

Junko gave me a worried look, and I could only shrug my shoulders as I followed Aerrow down the hall.

_What happened to them?_

* * *

Aerrow's POV

It was great to be back on the Condor again, but the feeling was washed away when I remembered what happened with Piper this morning.

_At least she's safe now._

I sighed as I entered Piper's room and I laid her down on her bed, being careful as if she were a china doll.

"Dude, you still don't look so good." I turned around to see Finn standing in the doorway with Radarr perched on his shoulder.

With a screech of happiness Radarr jumped off of Finn's shoulder and tackled my leg in a hug. I smiled down at my furry blue co-pilot. "Hey buddy." I said as I leaned down so that he could climb up onto my shoulder. Radarr accepted a lift to his usual perch with gratitude.

"Admit it Aerrow, you haven't had a good night's sleep in days."

I turned around to see my wingman with his arms crossed. "So what if I haven't." I said answering his question.

"Then you should go and rest. We can survive without you for another few hours you know."

I looked at him and said, "Thanks for the offer Finn, but I need to look after Piper."

"Looks like there isn't much to watch over Aerrow, she's unconscious." Finn said as he looked over my shoulder.

"So." I said.

"So, you go and rest. Radarr and I can look after Piper." Finn said looking at me again. "Right Radarr pal?"

Radarr nodded in agreement as he jumped off of my shoulder and onto Piper's bed.

"I don't know Finn…" I began before he cut me off.

"As acting team leader, I order you to go to your room and rest."

"But I'm back Finn. I'm the team leader again."

"That so? You seem pretty tired looking to fill the spot of team leader effectively."

I opened my mouth to say something, but then I stopped.

_Finn is actually right… how did he get to be so smart all of a sudden?_

Finn grinned in victory as he pointed to my room across the hall. "Fine, but wake me up if Piper comes to, okay?" I told Finn.

"Aye, Aye Captain." Finn said saluting me mockingly as I walked into my room.

_Maybe some rest will do me good..._

I kicked off my shoes and I flopped down onto my bed.

_My own bed definitely beats those cots in the prison. _

I sighed as I put my arms behind my head and I stared at the ceiling.

_How can I go to sleep when I know that Piper's been keeping this huge secret from me? Did she think that I wouldn't want to be her friend anymore because of it? I would never do something like that._

My eyelids soon became heavy with the need for rest. I couldn't help myself as I drifted to sleep, dreams awaiting me on the other side.

* * *

Aerrow's Dream

"_Mom… why do I have to stay on the ship?" A five year old me complained._

"_Because Aerrow, your father said to stay here. It's the safest for you if you stay on the Condor."_

_I crossed my arms and stared out one of the many windows on the bridge of the Condor. Below me I saw the thick tree canopy of terra Amazonia with a small village in the distance._

_I still wasn't sure why my dad and the Storm Hawks were here. Something about a distress signal about being attacked by Talons or something like that. I sighed as I turned away from the window._

_When I turned around I saw my mom focused on a few maps of the terra while our carrier pilot was busy checking different gauges. _

_I quietly slipped out the door and down to the hangar bay. From there I walked down the ramp that led to the terra below._

_I was pretty sure that my dad, being the amazing Sky Knight that he was, had already taken care of the Talons so I figured it would be safe for me to head to the village now. _

_I walked off through the forest towards the village that was hidden amongst the trees._

* * *

Piper's Dream

"_Mom! Dad! What's happening?" A five year old me cried from the window of our small house on the outskirts of our village._

"_Get away from the window Piper!" My dad cried as he came and grabbed me as he ran off to the kitchen where my mom was. "The Cyclonians could have seen you Piper!" My dad said as he set me down on the counter._

"_I'm sorry daddy." I whimpered as tears began to form in my eyes. _

_Seeing my tears, my mom gently whispered, "Its ok Piper, your dad is just worried about you."_

_I nodded as I sniffled._

_A harsh pounding came from the door of our house as someone yelled, "Open up!"_

"_Oh no!" my mom whispered, looking around frantically trying to find somewhere to hide me, her eyes resting on the window behind me._

_Reaching around her neck, my mom took off her crystal necklace and fastened it around my tiny little one. _

"_Whatever you do Piper, don't take that necklace off EVER and remember that we love you with all of our hearts." My mom said giving me a kiss on the forehead._

_My dad nodded as he helped me through the back window and into the alleyway._

"_Hide there until help comes, alright Piper?" I nodded at what my dad said as more tears came to my eyes._

_I heard a scream and the sound of breaking wood come from inside my house as my dad quickly shut the window._

_I was all alone._

* * *

Aerrow's Dream

_It had taken me half an hour until I stumbled upon the outskirts of the small village. I couldn't believe what I saw, the village was totally trashed, and many of the houses and huts were on fire._

_I just blinked. I had never seen such destruction before. I could hear the sound of energy blasts coming from the centre of the village. Deciding that my dad and his fellow Storm Hawks were just finishing up their fight with the Talons, I cautiously walked through the silent alleyway. _

_I continued walking for a few minutes until I heard muffled sobs coming from behind a stack of boxes._

_Inching towards the boxes carefully I whispered, "Hello, who's there?"_

_The sobbing instantly stopped, and a voice so quiet that I almost didn't hear it said, "Me. It's just me." The voice sounded small and afraid. Again with caution, I slowly rounded the stack of boxes to see a small girl about the same age as I was with dark skin, midnight blue hair, and tangerine eyes._

_She looked at me with her eyes filled with fear and sorrow, as she fought to keep the tears pooling in her eyes from falling._

"_Hi," I said quietly sitting down next to her. "I'm Aerrow."_

"_Hi." The girl said between silent sobs._

"_What's your name?"_

"_I'm Pi – Pi- Piper." She said turning to look at me. "My name's Piper."_

"_Hi Piper." I said smiling. She didn't smile in return. "What's wrong?"_

"_The Cyclonians just invaded my home, and took away my parents. They would have taken me away too if my parents hadn't hid me out here."_

_Piper looked as though she would break down and give into her overflowing tears at any moment._

_I hated seeing anyone so sad, and I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like to lose my parents._

_Standing up and holding out my hand I said, "Come with me, I know where you can go."_

_Grasping my small hand with hers she got to her feet and said, "Where?"_

"_With me, I'm sure my mom won't mind."_

"_Okay."_

_I turned around to lead Piper to the Condor when I saw a small little blue creature poke its head out of the box that was in front of me._

"_Hey little guy." I said quietly as I reached out my hand towards him slowly. The creature sniffed my hand tentatively, until with a little squeak he jumped onto it and ran up my arm and onto my shoulder._

_The girl beside me that I was still holding hands with giggled. "I think he likes you Aerrow."_

_I smiled at the creature on my shoulders, but the reason for my smiling was more because Piper wasn't crying anymore, she was giggling._

"_Come on!" I said as I gave her hand a gentle yank as we ran off into the woods and towards the Condor._

_When we arrived at the airship Piper said, "Wow, isn't that the Storm Hawks carrier?"_

"_Yep." I said as I walked up the ramp into the hangar bay._

_Looking around, Piper whispered, "Should we even be here?" _

"_Of course, this is where I live."_

_Piper stared at me with wide eyes as she quietly squealed, "Your parents are part of the Storm hawks!"_

"_Yup." I smiled proudly. "My dad is even the Sky Night."_

"_No way!"_

"_Way!"_

_As we walked onto the bridge, I noticed my mom and the carrier pilot looking all over the place for something._

"_Mom, what are you doing?" I asked as I walked up behind her._

"_Aerrow!" My mother cried as she hugged me. "Where have you been?"_

"_I went for a walk." I replied simply._

"_But your father and I told you to stay here on the Condor."_

"_Sorry mom." I said looking down at my shoes._

"_Well as long you're safe." My mom said releasing me from her grip._

"_Oh, hello there." My mom said just noticing that I had brought along a friend. _

"_Hello" Piper whispered shyly._

"_Who's this Aerrow?" My mom said turning to me._

"_Mom this is Piper, Piper, this is my mom."_

_Piper waved shyly._

_Before anyone else could say anything, my dad and the rest of the squadron walked onto the bridge looking very tired and worn out. My dad plopped down into an empty chair, and staring out of the window said quietly, "I can't believe we were too late. They wiped out the entire village. There wasn't a single person left."_

_My dad's eyes shifted from the window to his shoes. My mom walked up next to him and put a caring hand on his shoulder as she whispered something in his ear._

_Looking up, my dad looked at my mom before he looked at me, and then his eyes found Piper and stayed there._

"_Umm, hello." Piper said._

"_Hi there." My dad said getting up from his chair and kneeling in front of Piper. "What's your name?" He asked._

"_Piper."_

"_That's a very nice name."_

"_Thank you."_

"_Where are you from?" My dad asked Piper. Piper looked at him and then at me. She pointed out the window to where smoke was rising out of the trees, where her village and home used to be._

"_Oh, I'm so sorry Piper." My dad said turning back to face Piper. Her sniffling was returning, and the tears that were locked away in her eyes threatened to come back._

"_There isn't anyone left?" Piper said looking at my Dad's green eyes through her own tangerine ones._

_Again looking at his toes, my dad replied, "No, I'm so sorry, really I am."_

_Piper looked up at me, and I saw a silent tear trickle down her face._

"_Oh, come here Piper!" My mom cried as she rushed over to Piper and held her in her motherly embrace. _

_Piper couldn't hold it in anymore, and her single tear turned into a waterfall, and I could hear her muffled sobs coming from my mom's shoulder._

_I looked over at my dad, and the rest of his squadron, all of them had pity in their eyes for this little girl._

_I wondered if my parents would let Piper stay with us. I doubted that she had anywhere else to go._

_I walked over to my dad, and once he leaned down, I whispered my idea in his ear._

_My dad smiled and nodded, and then clearing his voice he said, "Piper?"_

_Piper looked up from my mom's embrace with swollen eyes and said, "Mhmm?"_

"_How would you like to live with us, unless you have family elsewhere that is."_

"_Not that I know of." Piper said between her tears._

"_Alright, then if it's fine with the rest of you," My dad said now talking to his squadron. "Piper can live with us on the Condor. Everyone who agrees say 'I'"_

"_I" Everyone on the bridge said. Even the blue creature I had brought home made a noise of agreement._

"_Then it's settled, Piper you're staying with us!"_

_Piper smiled at the Storm Hawks and said, "Thanks" and then running over to me, she gave me a hug and whispered in my ear, "And thank you for rescuing me!" She then gave me a small peck on the cheek which got a resounding, "Awe!" From my mom and the other female members of the squad._

* * *

I slowly awoke from my slumber as I felt a small body running across my pillows, and landing on my head. Opening my eyes I said, "Hi Radarr." The furry creature that I had found on Amazonia all of those years ago gave an excited squawk as he jumped off of my head and started pulling on my wrist.

"What is it Radarr?" I said as I got out of my bed and slipped my shoes on. Radarr jumped off of the bed and started to pull on my pants as he pointed to Piper's bedroom door.

"She's awake?" Radarr nodded his head.

"Thanks Radarr." I said as I reached down and ruffled the fur on his head. He usually hated it when I did that, but today seemed to be a day for exceptions.

As I walked into Piper's room and sat down onto the chair next to her bed, I couldn't help but wonder what would unfold in the next little bit.

"Piper? Piper?" I whispered. She let out a moan, and that was all.

"Piper, it's me, Aerrow." Again she didn't do much in response. I looked down at Radarr who just shrugged.

_I guess she must have gone back to sleep when Radarr came to get me. _

Looking around the room I noticed that Finn had disappeared.

_Well I guess it's my turn to wait._

I gently put my hand over Piper's petit one while I waited for her to wake up.

_But what am I waiting for?_

* * *

**Alrighty, so there is chapter 8 Part 1 for all of you who are currently reading this story.( I hope you aren't disappointed that I haven't explained what Piper's crystal does yet, that is in part 2, but this part was needed to show you how Piper got her necklace, who had it before her, and stuff like that.)**

**Ok, for those of you who do not speaken the french, in the second last line, I used petit as an adjective for Piper's hands**

**petit means small (pronounce the p-e as if you were to say p - p -please?? and then the 't' as would would say the name of the letter, and then i-t as the equivelant of the eet sound in sweet) Alright that is your mini french lesson of the day. (p-T-eet, petit)**

**Crimson Fox4**

**Please review, cause you reviewers are just the best in the world! :D**


	9. Confessions and Memories Part 2

**Alrighty then! Again, thanks go to Unleash the Shadow for their editing skills and suggestions and thanks to SakariWolfe for their ongoing support!!**

**Sorry I haven't updated in so long, but part 2 of chapter 8 is 4,500 words and up, and maybe close to 10 pages... so it took a while. Sorry that you had to wait so long!**

**Just a heads up, lots of POV switching in this chapter, I've marked where the switches are. This chapter starts in Aerrow's POV. Enough of my babbling, on with the story!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the porperty of Nerd Corps. (How many thimes have I told you guys this anyways?)**

**Chapter 8, _PART !!

* * *

_****__**

Chapter 8

_Confessions and Memories_

_**Part 2**_

"Aerrow? Aerrow? Wake up sleepy head." I heard a voice say to me. I opened my eyes and was greeted with a smiling Piper with dancing orange eyes.

"Hey." I said as I picked my upper body off of her bed. I must have fallen onto it when I fell asleep a while ago.

"Hey yourself." Piper said continuing to smile like there was no tomorrow. "Why are you in my room?"

"Don't you remember anything from this morning?"

"Aerrow, it _is_ morning!"

"Huh?" I said as I looked towards her window. She was telling the truth. The sun was rising up from the Eastern horizon.

"Wow, I must have camped out here for a while."

"What do you mean?" Piper asked, confusion hinting her voice.

"I mean that we only got back this, er… yesterday morning. Besides, you were knocked out when I brought you back. You had been in your room all day, and I came over here last night after Finn was done his shift of watching you."

"So I was knocked out all of yesterday?"

"Ya."

"How did I manage to do that?"

"What?"

"I said… how did I manage to do that?"

"I know what you said, but don't you remember anything at all about yesterday?"

"You said I was knocked out yesterday. How am I supposed to remember anything?"

"You weren't knocked out all of yesterday; you were with it in the morning."

"Then how come I don't remember it?"

_Does she honestly not remember, or is she trying to avoid talking about what she knows I saw?_

"I don't know why you don't remember it. But you should!" I said as I got up from the chair I was sitting in, my anger rising as I started walking towards the door.

Turning around before I left I said, "I don't know what type of game you are trying to play Piper, or if you simply can't remember, but friends trust each other. I trusted you, and now you won't tell me a thing about what happened yesterday morning. Turning around, I walked out her door as I said quietly, "It's not everyday that one of my friends willingly jumps off of my skimmer and dives into the Wastelands you know."

"Aerrow…." I heard Piper say from her room, but I kept walking towards the bridge. I needed to make sure things were ok after me being gone for so long.

_I really hope I didn't hurt her feelings, but she won't tell me anything, she's acting like nothing happened yesterday! She's trying to convince me that nothing happened. Is she right? Did I dream it? No, that can't be right, I know what I saw._

* * *

Piper's POV

_Oh wow, I really blew it that time._

I sighed as I looked at the ceiling of my room.

_How can I tell Aerrow about what's been happening? I don't understand it that much myself, so how can I tell someone else about it? I knew I would have to tell him eventually, but why didn't I ever plan on what I was going to tell him?_

The only thing I could remember about the crystal when my mom still had it was that it was always glowing, especially when she was around my dad.

_Why did it suddenly stop once she gave it to me?_

There was one other thing I remembered though….

Flashback

"_Mom, mom?" I called out as I walked behind our house and into the alleyway._

_I started to poke my head into the cracks between our house and our neighbour's house when I heard my mother's familiar voice behind me._

"_Piper? What are you doing out here so late?"_

"_I couldn't sleep mom. The jungle animals are just too noisy tonight."_

"_Alright then." My mom said as she pulled me into her embrace._

_Looking up, I saw skimmers approaching in the distance. "Mommy, who are they?"_

"_I don't know Piper, but stay here where it's safe." I nodded my head as my mom walked out of the shadows to come face to face with a group of Cyclonian Talons. _

"_What do you want?" My mother hissed as she stared the leader down._

"_Our master has need of your…abilities." The leader said evilly._

_What type of abilities is this guy talking about? My mommy isn't special; she's like all of the other mommies in the village._

"_To bad I have no desire, nor shall I ever have any desire to serve under Master Cyclonis or any of his descendants."_

"_You shall pay with your life for your disrespect of the Master!" The talon shouted as he unsheathed his sword. _

"_Oh is that a fact?" My mom said smirking._

_My mom isn't afraid of him; she's amazing! _

_What happened next took my breath away. With her blue crystal pulsing with light, energy from it radiated from her body, and as it dissipated, where my mom had been standing a few minutes ago, a feared Black Amazonian Panther now crouched, waiting to spring at it's enemies._

"_Wow" I whispered as I watched the panther attack the Talons._

_Once the Talons had retreated, the Panther slowly trotted over to where I stood._

"_Piper?" I heard the panther say._

"_Mom?" I said as I walked out of the shadows. The panther wasn't my mom, but it had her voice. _

"_Piper!" The panther happily purred. It strode up to me, and then in a blur of light blue energy, the panther was replaced with my mom. I could only stare._

_Kneeling down so that she could look me in the eye my mom said, "Piper, I don't want you to tell anyone about what happened tonight alright? If anyone ever figures out who I am, it won't just be the Cyclonians that are after me. Murk Raiders, Raptors, any form of evil would want the abilities I have. The abilities that I most likely gave you."_

_I stared at my mom with my mouth open. "I can do that?"_

_My mom nodded. "When the time comes, it will come naturally to you._

_And that it did. I was only four when I was told my family secret. A few months before the Cyclonians attacked my village and I met Aerrow It was my fifth birthday and I once again found myself in the alleyway behind my house._

"_Come on Piper! You can do this!" I said staring at my hand, giving every ounce of concentration I had to it._

"_Just do what mom said, concentrate on an animal you've seen and imagine you are that animal."_

_Focusing, I closed my eyes and once again thought back to the night when I first found out about my abilities. Opening my eyes, I peeked down at my arm. _

"_Yes!" I cried as I saw that my arm was now black and furry with a paw replacing my hand, with sharp claws where my fingernails would have been._

_I turned around to run inside to show my mom when I ran into someone's leg. Looking up, I saw my mom smiling down at me. "Well done Piper." My mom said continuing to smile. "You've homed your abilities long before I did. Congratulations." My mom said ruffling my hair before she headed back inside._

_Looking down at my hand, I saw the black fade back into a dark brown, and the paw shrink into my hand. Smiling at my accomplishment I scampered back inside after my mom._

* * *

Shaking my head, I tried to put my memories to rest.

Sighing, I got up from my bed and walked across the hall to Aerrow's room. I knocked on the door, and as it opened I said, "Aerrow…" I cut myself off when I saw that no one was there except for Radarr.

"Oh, sorry Radarr." I said leaning down. "Do you know where Aerrow is? I need to talk to him." Radarr nodded as he scampered down the hall, motioning for me to follow him.

_Well, I had better get this over with. The sooner I tell Aerrow the truth about me, the sooner I can pack my bags and leave._

I sighed as I followed Aerrow's furry blue companion down the hall.

_I just hope Aerrow listens long enough for me tell him; it's a pretty long story..._

* * *

Aerrow's POV

I looked up when I heard the door open, with Radarr coming in first, and then following behind him was Piper.

"Are you feeling better?" Junko asked, beating me to the question.

"Um, ya." Piper said stealing a nervous glance my way. "I'm a bit better now."

Junko nodded as he walked away to fix a few pipes that had steam coming out of them again.

Walking over to the table, Piper stood across from me and said, "Aerrow?"

I looked up and into her tangerine eyes and I saw hurt, confusion, and fear in them, among other things.

"Ya Piper" I said turning my gaze back down to the table and some of the charts of Amazonia that were still laid out from our recon mission.

_I'm hurt and confused too Piper. You told me to trust you, and now… I don't know what to think. _

"I need to talk to you about something _really_ important." Looking up, I saw something urgent in her eyes.

"Um… sure?" I replied as I walked around the table and stood across from her.

_Really Important?_

I could see Piper look over my shoulder and then she added in a whisper, "I need to talk to you alone." I turned around and followed her eyes. They had been looking at Stork, Junko, Radarr, and Finn.

Nodding, I walked past her and said quietly, "Meet me on the roof in five minutes."

I could feel Piper's eyes following me as I walked off of the bridge.

* * *

Piper's POV

After Aerrow had left the bridge, I sat down by the table with a sigh.

_Great, a whole five minutes for me to lose my confidence and not tell Aerrow about my secret; yet something else to make Aerrow have another reason to hate me._

My elbow on the table, I leaned my head on my hand as I stared down at the maps below.

_Ugh. This stupid recon mission started this whole thing. I should have just told Aerrow in the first place I didn't want to go anywhere near Amazonia, but no; he told me everything would be fine. It's a good thing that I told Stork to land here..._

I continued to study the maps, and was about to put them away and go meet Aerrow when I noticed something on a small aging map of the terra.

_That's strange... I never remembered a waterfall there..._

I rolled up all of the maps and put them away. All except for the yellowing map I had just discovered.

I walked out of the bridge, and towards my room to drop the map off.

_Then it's off to the roof to talk with Aerrow... This isn't going to go so well... _

* * *

Finn's POV

I watched Piper as she left the bridge and said to the others, "What do you think she had to talk to Aerrow about?"

"Oh, probably just something about another mission that will doom us all..." Stork said turning around from the helm of the condor with his left eye twitching.

"But usually they just do that sort of thing right here on the bridge." I whined as I pointed to the tables where the maps had been spread out a few moments ago.

"So?" Junko said looking up from his book.

"You know you're reading that upside down, right Junko?" I said to my best friend.

Looking at the book and flipping it, Junko adjusted his glasses before he said, "Oh, so that's why I thought it was written in code."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Come on guys, something is going on here." I said insistently. "Why did Aerrow bring Piper back unconscious?"

"Cyclonis did have those crystals Finn…" Junko said, not even looking up from his book.

Sighing I said, "But did you guys not just see or hear what happened? I heard Aerrow yelling in Piper's room earlier this morning."

"What was he doing in her room?" Stork said.

"I don't know," I said before continuing, "But he was there last night waiting for Piper to wake up, maybe he camped out there for the night. Anyways… when Piper told Aerrow she had to talk to him just a minute ago, she said she had to talk to him alone. She's never had to do that before!"

"Your point?" Ever optimistic Stork said.

"My point is that something is going on, and I'm going to find out!" I said to my friends as I stormed off of the bridge.

* * *

Piper's POV

Taking a deep breath, I walked up the spiral staircase that led to the hatch that opened to the roof of the Condor. Opening it, I climbed out onto the roof and shut the hatch, locking it firmly.

I turned around, to see that Aerrow was sitting on the edge of the roof, his legs dangling off the side.

_Well, it's now or never..._

I walked up to him and quietly said, "Hey."

"Hey, nice of you to drop by again." I smiled as he motioned for me to sit down as he spoke.

I sat down next to him, our shoulders touching. Looking down at my crystal, I saw it faintly start glowing. It stopped when I moved away from Aerrow a couple inches to put more space in between us.

_That's weird, why does it keep doing that? _

"So," Aerrow began, looking down at his dangling feet. "You wanted to talk to me?" Aerrow looked up, and I couldn't help but notice the familiar spark in his eyes.

"Ya." An awkward silence followed as I tried to think of how, or where, I could even begin to tell Aerrow, in all truth, my life story.

Sighing, I continued, "I'm sorry about earlier this morning… I just didn't know what to tell you, or what you would think if I did."

"Think about what?"

Looking at my folded hands in my lap I replied, "What you saw yesterday morning."

* * *

Aerrow's POV

_So she does remember after all. _

Reaching out my hand, I touched Piper's face and lifted it so that she could see me, but her eyes just avoided mine. I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw a small trace of red in her cheeks.

_It's probably just the wind; it is kind of cold out here._

"Piper, look at me." Piper glanced up at me, and I could see the evidence of tears welling up in her eyes. I let go of her face and said, "Aw Piper, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

_I haven't seen her cry since the day I met her over ten years ago, and the day of my parent's funeral._

"I'm not crying." Piper said as a single tear fell down her cheek.

I reached up and wiped the tear away from her cheek. "Yes you are."

"Sorry Aerrow," Piper said as a few more tears streamed down her face. "It's just that this past week has been so confusing to me, and lately I've been remembering things I haven't thought of in years."

"I know what you mean Piper. Just last night I had a dream about when we met. I haven't thought about that for a while."

"Not just that," Piper said looking up at me as her tears subsided. "I've been remembering things about this…" Piper said as she fiddled with the crystal around her neck. "About who I really am."

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion.

I heard Piper take a deep breath before she said, "Do you remember Ayrgyn, and how when we first met him, he was a bird?"

"Ya…" I said not sure where she was going with this.

"Do you remember what he was called?"

"A shape changer, right?"

"Ya. He can only change from a bird to a human. That's why he is called a shape changer."

"You're point?" I asked, starting to feel uneasy about where she was going with this.

"Well, my mother was the greatly feared Amazonian Black Panther that guarded our village because we didn't have a squadron."

"How can your mom be a panther? You're a human, it doesn't make sense."

"I'm human, because my mom wasn't really a panther; she was a lot like Ayrgyn."

"She was a shape changer?"

"Sort of…." Piper said as she looked towards the terra of Amazonia.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in correct terms my mother was a shape _shifter. _She could turn into any animal that she had ever seen."

"Oh." I said, still not quite getting it.

"Aerrow, I inherited some really special abilities from my mom." Looking up at me she continued barely above a whisper, "I'm a shape shifter Aerrow."

"_Oh._" Was the only reply I could summon to come out of my mouth.

Another awkward silence ensued until I finally thought of something to say.

"But I've never seem you change into an animal, except for maybe yesterday, but I'm still really confused at what I saw. I mean, it wasn't at all like when Ayrgyn changed, there was a cloud swirling around you." Piper once again stared at her folded hands. "Piper, the cloud was the same colour as the crystal on your necklace." Once I had said that, Piper's hand flew to the crystal that was hanging around her neck.

_I've never seem a day where she wasn't wearing that crystal._

When Piper still didn't say anything, I voiced my thoughts, "Piper, I've known you for over 10 years, and never once have I seen you without that necklace, and never once have I seen it glow until just this week." Pausing for a moment, I turned around so that I was facing her. Piper looked at me out of the corner of her eye, she almost seemed fearful of what I would say next.

"Piper, what's going on?"

"It's complicated, _really _complicated."

"Try me Piper."

Sighing, Piper began her story.

"I first found out about my mother when I was four. I had wandered into the alleyway where you first found me. I had found my mom in the alleyway and was about to go inside when some Cyclonian Talons on skimmers showed up. My mom hid me in the shadows, and walked up to the Talons. At first I thought she was crazy, but then when they threatened her, I saw a version of what you must have. A could of light blue energy and light emanated from her, and once the cloud dissipated, my mom was nowhere to be found, just the black panther."

Piper glanced at me to see if I was listening, and then she continued. "After the talons had fled, the panther changed back into my mom before my eyes."

_Just like the phoenix I was yelling at ended up being you..._

"She told me that she was a shape shifter, and that it was more than likely that the abilities that she had would no doubt surface in me one day."

"I guess they did huh?" I said as Piper nodded and she continued with her story.

"On my fifth birthday, a month or so before you found me; I was in the same alleyway again when I managed to turn my arm into the arm and paw of a black panther. What was surprising to me though was that the blue cloud didn't surround my arm, it just kind of morphed into what I had intended it to be."

"So, what happened since then that made the blue cloud show up?" I asked interrupting her story yet again.

"My crystal." Piper said playing with the crystal around her neck again.

"What does your crystal have to do with anything?" I was starting to get confused again, and I was going to guess anything that the confusion was showing in my eyes.

"I think… everything. It has to do with everything." Turning around to face me, Piper explained herself further, "Before my parents hid me in the alleyway that night you found me after the Cyclonians trashed my village, my mom gave me this crystal necklace. You said that you can't remember a day that you haven't seen me without this crystal; the same thing went with my mom, until she gave it to me." Letting go of the crystal, Piper looked straight into my eyes and said, "My mom told me to never ever take this necklace off, and it wasn't until we met Ayrgyn that I figured out why."

"What happened?" I said returning her gaze until she broke it.

"On our way to terra Neon to 'train' Ayrgyn took me aside for a while and let me in on a few secrets of this crystal my mom gave me. When he asked me where I got it, and I told him my mom, he said, 'You're the daughter of the Amazonian Guardian?' When I told him yes, he asked me if I had any idea of what the crystal did, and he seemed surprised when I didn't know what it was."

"So you didn't know hardly anything about the crystal until about a year ago?"

Piper nodded her head and continued from where she left off. "He said that it was the legendary Amplifying Stone. Only one had ever been found in the entire history of the Atmos."

"I was always told by my mom that Amp Stones were a legend."

"I thought the same thing, until a little bit ago." Glancing at Piper, I nodded and she said, "Ayrgyn said that an Amp Stone is very powerful, and has the ability to enhance a person's natural abilities 100 fold."

"So it's a, lot like the purple enhancer crystals Master Cyclonis gave to the Dark Ace, Ravess, Snipe and the Raptors to wipe us out with?"

"Right, except there are some big differences. The Amp Stone occurs naturally in nature, while an enhancer crystal doesn't. Enhancers enhance the properties of weapons and vehicles, while the Amp Stone amplifies a person's _natural_ abilities."

I nodded as I was beginning to understand.

"But there is a hitch as to how an Amp Stone works though." Piper said, her hand once again playing with the crystal hanging from her neck.

"Isn't there always a hitch?" I said, trying to lighten the situation.

Smiling and nodding, Piper explained herself, "While it amplifies your abilities, it also has a mechanism of sorts that controls when you use them. As far as I know, you can only use your abilities when the crystal is glowing, indicating that it has been activated somehow. The crystal only activates when the owner, their friends or family are in a dire situation."

"Then how come it hasn't activated before this week?"

"Another drawback to the crystal is that if you take it off, it takes ten years for you to be able to use your abilities with your own strength again, and when you wear the necklace for the first time, it takes ten years for it to be able to activate. During those ten years, you aren't able to use your abilities at all."

"I guess that makes sense, it's been a little over ten years since we met. We're sixteen now, and we met each other when we were five."

Piper nodded, still holding onto the crystal.

I slowly reached towards Piper's crystal, and she looked at me surprised as my hand wrapped around hers, as I tried to get a closer look at the Amp Stone.

I had to stifle a loud cry as her crystal suddenly gave off a flash of brilliant blue light, and started to glow vibrantly.

I let go of Piper's hand and the crystal, and the glow inside the Amp Stone slowly went away.

Looking into the sky, I tried to determine if there was any danger. When I was certain the coast was clear, I turned back to Piper and said, "What happened? There isn't any danger."

"I know, I think something is wrong with it. It has glowed a few times over the past week or so, and there hasn't been any danger."

"That's weird."

"Ya." Piper said looking at her feet as she stood up. "I'm going to go pack my bags now."

I quickly jumped to my feet and latched onto Piper's wrist as I said, "Where are you going?"

"Aren't you mad that I kept this secret from you so long? Don't you never want to see me again?"

"Why would I never want to see you again? You're my best friend."

"R-r-really?"

_Did I just tell her that she was my best friend...? _

"Really! Besides, I'm not mad at you. I'm more or less disappointed and hurt that you didn't trust me enough to tell me your secret earlier."

Tears once more threatened to spill down Piper's face as she turned around and threw her arms around my neck as she sobbed into my shoulder, "I'm so sorry Aerrow; I just thought you would hate me…"

"How could I ever hate my best friend?" I hugged Piper a little harder in reassurance that I meant what I said.

After a few moments, Piper' tears subsided, and she was just resting her head on my shoulder, still embracing me, the effects of the week had finally take their toll on her.

I was about to suggest that she should go inside and get some rest when I heard her whisper in my ear, "I trust you Aerrow."

A smile slowly crept over my face as Piper gave me one last squeeze before pulling away.

I looked down and smiled at her and said, "Let's get you to your room so you can rest."

Piper yawned and nodded as we walked towards the hatch that led down to the inside of the Condor. Piper leaned on my shoulder, and though I was surprised, I put my arm around her shoulders to help keep her upright; as I could see her eyelids were becoming heavier.

* * *

A few minutes later, Piper was in her room sleeping. I walked over to my room and I laid down on my bed hoping to get some more rest myself.

_It's not even noon yet, and I'm already tired. I guess that goes to show how much sleep I got in Cyclonia._

_No wonder Piper has been acting a little different when she was in Cyclonia, and just now. I mean, would she really hug me otherwise? The hugs probably meant nothing. Piper was just really glad to see me in Cyclonia, and then just now, she was glad that I wasn't mad at her. They couldn't have meant anything, could they?_

I sighed as I looked up at the patterns on the roof. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on with Piper's crystal glowing when there wasn't any danger.

_It even was glowing when I was helping her back to her room, we weren't in danger then. What is going on here?_

**

* * *

**

Yes, I know that may not have been as good as you expected it, so I'm sorry! You can all whack me on the head later, how's that?

**Alright, a very mini cliff hanger here, I still haven't told you one of the key details of Piper's Amp Stone! Muhahaha I am evil! (At least I haven't killed anyone yet... I've had a lot of chances you know... :P**

**Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible, I'm still working it out in my mind :P (I can be sooo organzied at times)**

**So anyways, feel free to leave a review, I love em'**

**Crimson Fox4**

**Hey, has anyone else noticed that in my story Finn almost comes across as smart sometimes?? ... Kind of weird, isn't it?**


	10. Escapee Turned Fugitive

**Thanks again to Unleash The Shadow for their continuing advice and editing skills!**

**Ok... this chapter isn't very long, and is told in Master Cyclonis' POV. Again, its another chapter that isn't extremely colourful, but is important to the plot.**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks. They are the property of Nerd Corps. (Thhis should be news to you... Or not. :P)**

**Alrighty then ... Chapter 9!**

* * *

Chapter 9

_Escapee Turned Fugitive_

I drummed my hands on the arm rest of my throne. I was getting really impatient with the Talon's blubbering account of what happened.

"Quiet!" I commanded. "Now, tell me once more what happened."

"Well, um… you see..." I could see the Talon quivering in his shoes.

Rolling my eyes I asked, "Does anyone else know what happened?"

"Y-yes," The Talon replied, "I told my commanding officer, the Dark Ace."

I turned to the guards beside me and said, "Go fetch the Dark Ace, and take this Talon back his prison shift."

The guards nodded as they walked over to the Talon and dragged him out the door.

"No need to look for me when I'm already here." A voice from the shadows said.

"The Dark Ace. So glad you could finally join in on this conversation."

"I was just waiting for the right time to intervene." The Dark Ace said materializing from the shadows and bowing with his hand pressed to his chest.

"Please, forget the formalities this once; I need to know, HOW IN THE ATMOS WAS PIPER ABLE TO ESCAPE!"

I could see the Dark Ace cringe at the venom in my voice.

"According to the Talon, there is no evidence that she even escaped." The Dark Ace said recovering from my outburst of anger. "The lock wasn't tampered with, no sign of a tunnel, and no signs of anything that could help us figure out how she just seemed to disappear." The Dark Ace said looking at me to try and gauge my reaction.

"How can she just disappear?" I questioned my right hand man as I stood up.

"I don't know Master…."

"Of course you don't!" I turned around so that my back was to the Dark Ace. Thinking, I asked, "Was anyone else sharing a cell with her?"

"Yes, we put a renegade teenager in the cell with her because we just received a shipment of prisoners from terra Zartacla a few days ago."

"Did the teenager escape as well?"

"Yes, he did."

_He? No, it can't be any of those Storm Hawk pests. We got rid of them, didn't we?_

"No matter," I said trying to calm myself down. "Alert all of the Talon Squadrons and outposts that we have a couple of fugitives on the loose; a Hawk and renegade."

"Yes Master." The Dark Ace said bowing, leaving the room to follow out my orders.

_How did she and that hooligan manage to escape? They couldn't have used any sort of crystals because of the blocking crystals in the cells… I designed that system myself._

Turning around, I decided to walk to the lower levels of my palace where I kept all of my long term prisoners.

_If we don't find them soon, I'm going to have to use the ace in the hole that I've been saving for a special occasion... I just hope the ace co-operates for their sake, and Piper's._

I felt the corners of my mouth turn into an evil grin as I thought about how I had covered every possible thing that could happen, and how to counter it.

_Let's just hope Piper is too weak from the loss of her squadron to counter anything I may throw at her._

As I entered a small room on the lower level, I walked over to a row of bars that separated the prison cell from the rest of the room.

"Comfy?" I asked the two people inside.

"Hardly." I heard a deep voice say. I looked to the corner where the voice had come from to see a pair of red eyes staring at me.

"What do you want?" Another, softer voice said to me. I turned to look in another corner of the cell to see a pair of golden eyes looking at me.

"Before my father died, he said he had plans for you… great plans for you and your… abilities."

The person with golden eyes gasped, but then with a look of pure determination they replied, "I told your father something all of those years ago, and it still stands now. I have no desire to EVER serve under you or the Cyclonian Empire in general. "

As I turned to leave, I couldn't help but grin.

_Ah, but you will. Just you wait, for you will._

* * *

**Uh oh... what is Master Cyclonis going to do now!**

**Sorry again that it was so short, but in one of the reviews that I received from the last chapter, it was suggested to me that I tried to fit Master Cyclonis in again. I'm really glad for that review because i had been planning on getting her in again, but I wasn't quite sure when... I hope this fit:P Thanks for helping remember that GhostDragon269!!**

**Alright... I have some homework I should do, so the next chapter might be up mid-weekish, depending how much free time I get. **

**Thanks again to everyone who has been reviewing and reading my fic! You are all Awesome Amazing!**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS: the next chapter after this one should be called: Waterfall Wonder. I will leave the rest to your imagination though :P**


	11. The Clue

**More thanks goes to Unleash The Shadow for continuing to help me edit my story.**

**And loads of thanks to everyone for waiting so long for me to update! (I haven't updated since the 5th! 0o) **

**Your patience is being rewarded as this chapter is 12 pages long and in around 6,000 words! (Sorry to those who might not like long chapters!)**

**I have a new Cookie Challenge, but I'll explain it at the end of this chapter as I'm sure you are already tired of my blabbering! And just to let you know, this chapter starts in Piper's POV**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps (What else is new?)**

**Drum Roll please! Presenting chapter 10!**

* * *

Chapter 10

_The Clue_

I had managed to get a couple hours of rest after talking with Aerrow before Finn's music from the bridge had met my ears.

"Finn! I'm going to kill you!" I said to myself as I walked out the door of my room. Before I could make it to the bridge though, I ran into something tall and sturdy.

I rubbed my head while trying to get up from the hallway floor as I mumbled, "Sorry."

"It's okay." I heard a familiar voice say. "Want some help?" I looked up to see Aerrow extend his hand with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Thanks, and sorry that I ran into you." I said smiling as he helped me up.

"No problem, I was coming to check up on you anyways." He replied, still holding onto my hand.

I was about to say something when I felt a pulsing energy coming from my crystal. I held it in my free hand, so that hopefully Aerrow wouldn't see it. But of, course he did.

"Any ideas yet why it keeps doing that?" He asked, looking at the crystal I know held in my hand.

"Um, no not really, I can't think with Finn playing his music like that anyways." I started to head down the hall when I felt that I wasn't moving anywhere. I looked at my hand to see that Aerrow was still holding it.

I looked at him, and he looked at me, but he still wouldn't let go. "Aerrow?" I asked.

"What?" He replied, as though he didn't know what I was talking about.

"My hand…." I said nodding in the direction of where his hand was still holding mine.

"Oh, right sorry." He said dropping my hand like it was fire, and at the same time the pulsing in my crystal stopped. Aerrow seemed to have noticed it as well.

"Um, I'm going to go outside for a bit…" I began as I looked away to hide my confused face. "Have fun in here with Finn's music!" I called as I walked towards the hangar bay.

"I'll come join you later!" I heard Aerrow call after me.

I couldn't help but grimace. I just needed to be alone to sort my thoughts and feelings out.

_Maybe it won't hurt if he comes outside later..._

"See you in an hour or so, okay?" I called back to Aerrow as I walked into the hangar bay.

"Who are you going to see in an hour?" I almost jumped out of my skin as Stork talked to me from underneath a skimmer.

"What? Oh…" I said as I finally processed what Stork had said. "I'm just going outside for a bit, and Aerrow said he would be out later or something."

Crawling out from underneath the skimmer Stork said, "Is Finn right?"

"Huh?" I said, totally confused by Stork's question. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"This morning Finn was just going crazy on the bridge, thinking that you and Aerrow were up to something."

"And that would be…?"

"I don't know. Finn just thought that something weird was going on that involved you and Aerrow, and that he was going to find out what it was."

Seeing Stork's eye begin to twitch, I knew had to do something to put this crazy idea of Finn's to rest. So I said, "Of course not Stork, you know that Finn is hardly ever right about anything."

Stork just shrugged and went back to work on the skimmers.

I turned around and walked down the ramp to the terra below. I looked around, and saw that when Stork had set up the holographic shield, that a tree had been hidden by it as well.

_Well that's convenient. _

I walked over to the tree and sat down. I stared at the Condor for a bit, and then sighing I shifted my eyes so that they could see Amazonia and I began to play around with the light blue crystal hanging from my neck.

_I wonder where my mom even found this crystal, how she found out about her abilities. Did grandma have them too? _

I sighed again.

_I still can't believe that I cried today, and in front of Aerrow too..._

I glanced back at the Condor, before my eyes fell to the grassy ground in front of me.

_It's been years since I've cried. The last time that I can remember that I cried would have been the night the Cyclonians attacked my terra, and when Aerrow's parents died in the battle that had taken out the former Master Cyclonis. _

_How come each time, Aerrow has been the one whose shoulder I cried on?_

I shook my head trying to get my thoughts away from Aerrow. But it was almost impossible. After all, it was because of my crystal that I had come out here to think. I had to try and figure out why it kept glowing for no apparent reason.

_At least I don't think there is a really obvious connection... or is there?_

_Whenever my crystal has been glowing, it always seems to be around Aerrow. But that doesn't make sense at all. Aerrow isn't dangerous. He would never hurt me, would he?_

I moaned as another thought came to my mind.

_Ayrgyn had said there were two reasons why my Amp Crystal would activate; a threat or danger to myself, my family, friends or someone that I love, and there was one other one..._

I racked my brain, trying to remember what Ayrgyn had told me.

_Wait a second... he said that eventually the second reason would take effect, but he figured it would take years after the first time my Amp crystal activated. Could he be wrong though?_

_Could Aerrow really be... could he be my, my..._

"One true love?" I could only bet that the Cyclonian outpost on Amazonia would have been able to hear my scream after I heard an all too familiar voice.

I placed a hand over my heart, willing it to slow down. I looked up into the trees to see a colourful bird with bright yellow eyes looking down at me. It swooped down and landed right next to me, and after it had landed, I gasped as it turned into a familiar person.

"Ayrgyn?" I asked in surprise.

Ayrgyn nodded as he sat down next to me.

"How, why, when…what?" I couldn't help but sputter all of the questions that had formed in my head.

"Take it easy, one question at a time. And what, no hello, how's it been, or any type of welcome?"

I blinked still trying to wear off my surprise that Ayrgyn had showed up.

_I'm kind of surprised the guys didn't come rushing out when I screamed. Oh well, maybe its better that they didn't. The person I seriously need to ask some questions finally showed up._

"Sorry, it's just the stone…" I began before Ayrgyn cut me off.

"It's been activated?" He finished for me.

"Ya, how did you know about it though?"

Ayrgyn shrugged. "It was bound to happen one day, but it helps to have been able to track its energy signature."

"You've been tracking me?"

"Yes, but no." Ayrgyn began, "When I was with you and your squadron a year or so ago, when I was talking to you about the crystal, I used my staff to analyze it and track its energy levels."

I could only nod. Ayrgyn's staff was very complicated, it almost seemed… magical for lack of a better word.

"Over the past year or so, the crystal's energy has been slowly rising, yet it stayed dormant, no?"

I nodded my head again before he continued. "For this past month, it had been staying pretty stable, until about a week or so, there was a small spike in power. I wasn't sure if it was a fluke, or if your crystal had finally tried to activate itself. A few days after that spike, in the night it had spiked a few more times, but still not enough to activate."

_That would have been when Aerrow and I were still in Cyclonia..._

"When was the first time you said it spiked?"

"About a week ago in the morning sometime; why do you ask?"

_That sounds like the same time we were fighting Master Cyclonis and the Dark Ace in the Throne Room...so it must have glowed after all..._

"Oh, no reason." I replied.

"Anyways, the same day of the two smaller spikes, a huge one occurred a little after the first two. It was large enough for the Amp Stone to activate, did it?"

"You could say that…" I started before Ayrgyn interrupted me again.

"So you used your shape shifting abilities then?"

"Ya…."

"What did you shift into?" Ayrgyn asked excitedly.

_Wow, he's worse than Finn on Christmas!_

"I turned into a phoenix, does it matter?"

"Oh it does indeed. You see, the first thing you shift into completely will come easiest for you in the future. You are very lucky to have shifted into such a powerful animal. A phoenix will make a very good primary shape shift for you."

"A primary shape shift?"

"It means that it will be the first thing you change into unless you decide shifting into something else would better suit the situation."

"Oh."

"Now back to the story of how I got here! You see, after that enormous spike in energy, I flew here as fast as I could as I traced the remains of the energy surge to this terra. By the way, tell your pilot he did a very good job with the mountain. I was convinced it was one until I tried to land on the peak."

I just nodded, hoping it would make Ayrgyn tell his story faster, but curiosity got the best of me as I asked, "When exactly did you get here?"

"I arrived yesterday morning when Aerrow came back with you on his skimmer unconscious." Ayrgyn paused to say, "Don't worry, all shape shifters pass out right after their first significant shift." I rolled my eyes as he continued with his story. "I've been waiting in this tree ever since then, waiting for someone to come outside."

"But Aerrow and I were out on the roof earlier this morning. Why didn't you come and talk to me then?"

"Because, I knew that something was going on when I saw your crystal glow when you sat down next to your Sky Knight. I decided to listen in for a while until I saw that blond with the big ego walking around the decks of your ship, looking for a way to get onto the roof."

"You mean Finn?"

"Ya, I guess that would be him." Ayrgyn shrugged as he continued, "I chased the blond away while still listening to you, but I was afraid when I heard your friend yell."

"Um, about that…"

Cutting me off yet again Ayrgyn said, "He touched the crystal, didn't he?"

"Yes?"

"I knew it!" Ayrgyn cried as he jumped up from the ground.

"Why is that so important though? He's touched it other times before, and nothing ever happened."

"How long ago, because if it was _before_ the Amp Stone was activated, then it doesn't count."

Sighing I said, "Fine, you got me there."

"Do you love Aerrow Piper?"

"Huh?" I replied in shock. "What type of question is that?"

"Well the reason I'm thinking of could explain the actions of the Amp Stone is that if it has come in contact, or been close to a special someone in your life lately."

I just looked at Ayrgyn like he was crazy.

_What is he getting at?_

Elaborating on his statement Ayrgyn explained further, "The Amp Stone had a small portion of the oracle stone drafted into it centuries ago in hopes that it would help the bearer of the stone be able to predict their opponent's moves, but the oracle shard took a different direction. It was found that the stone was able to activate itself whenever the bearer was near their one true love."

_No way! That can't be right! Aerrow can't be my one true love, can he?_

Smiling in triumph Ayrgyn said, "Think about it!" While he swirled his staff around leaving sparkles in the air.

_What is he doing?_

"What are you doing with your staff?"

Looking down he said, "Oh nothing important…" Suddenly in a flash of light a yellowing piece of rolled up paper appeared and floated into my hands.

Unrolling it, I recognized it as the old map of Amazonia that I had found earlier in the day. Now that I looked at it closer, I saw that long ago someone had circled where the waterfall was and next to it had written:

_**Behind The Waterfall is what you seek,**_

_**but You must come kind and meek.**_

_**for only then Will you Find what it is that you seek.**_

_**The mystery of centuries gone by,**_

_**Secrets Revealed Of a treasured mind.**_

_**Shapes come together as one,**_

_**Shifting and falling into their place**_

_**all In Centuries Gone By.**_

_Who wrote this, and what does it mean?_

I looked up to ask Ayrgyn, but he was no where to be seen, although I did see Aerrow walking down the ramp, headed my way with a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

As he walked up to me, I couldn't help but wonder about the poem written beside the location of the waterfall on the map.

_Behind The Waterfall is what you seek,_

_but You must come kind and meek._

_for only then Will you Find what it is that you seek._

_The mystery of centuries gone by,_

_Secrets Revealed Of a treasured mind._

_Shapes come together as one,_

_Shifting and falling into their place_

_all In Centuries Gone By._

_But what does it mean? And was what Ayrgyn said true? Could Aerrow really be my one true love?_

_Oh stop being so silly Piper, Aerrow could never _really _love you, you're just his best friend. _

I forced a smile as Aerrow walked up to me, a lop-sided grin still on his smug face.

* * *

Aerrow's POV

"I finally got Finn to turn off his music, so you can come back inside if you want." I said to Piper as I met her at the tree.

"That's okay Aerrow, I think I like it better out here anyways."

I was really surprised, I mean Piper usually does anything to make Finn stop. Now, she didn't seem to care.

"Are you alright Piper?"

"What do you mean?" Piper looked at me quizzically.

"I mean are you sick?" I said as I put my palm on her forehead to see if she had a fever.

"Of course I'm not sick." Piper said shrinking away from my hand.

_Her crystal glowed and then stopped glowing again, what is with that thing?_

"Why do you think I'm sick?" Piper asked.

"It's just usually you'll do anything to get Finn to turn off his music, and now it seems like you don't care…."

Sighing Piper said, "It's great that you got him to stop Aerrow, if it had been any other day but today I would have been ecstatic, but…."

"But you've got a lot on your mind." I said finishing Piper's sentence.

She nodded, and then looking at me she said, "Thanks anyways."

I nodded and was thinking about heading back to the Condor when I saw that Piper had a piece of rolled up parchment in her hand, yellow with age.

_A map maybe, but of what?_

"What do you have here?" I asked as I reached for the yellowing parchment.

"Nothing!" Piper replied quickly as she hid it behind her back.

_If it's nothing, why is she hiding it from me?_

Speaking my thoughts, I told Piper, "If it was truly nothing, you wouldn't care if I saw it or not. You trust me, right? Well if you can trust me with the secret of your abilities, I think you can trust me with whatever is in your hand."

Piper's shoulders slumped as she said, "Fine," She pulled the parchment out from behind her back. "It's a map that I found earlier, and I just realized that there is a message, no; a _clue_ of some sorts on it to the history of the Amp Stone."

Raising my eyebrows, I looked over Piper's shoulder as she unrolled the old map.

"What terra is this map of?" I asked, curious.

"Mine." Piper said with a tint of sadness in her voice.

I nodded and rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but I quickly drew away when I felt her tense at my touch.

_What did I do now?_

"Sorry…." I said as I looked at her, only to see the remnants of a glow fade from her crystal.

_Seriously, what is the problem with that thing?_

"No, it's okay." Piper mumbled staring at her feet.

I moved from behind her to beside her, and I held up one end of the map, while she held the other.

"So where is the clue?" I asked, quickly scanning the many details of the old map.

"There." Piper said pointing one of her slender fingers at a point on the map.

Squinting, I could see the old writing that must have been the clue.

_It sure sounds like a clue._

_Behind The Waterfall is what you seek,_

_but You must come kind and meek._

_for only then Will you Find what it is that you seek._

_The mystery of centuries gone by,_

_Secrets Revealed Of a treasured mind._

_Shapes come together as one,_

_Shifting and falling into their place_

_all In Centuries Gone By._

"But what does it mean?" I heard myself whisper.

"I'm not sure, but I want to check it out." Piper said, sudden determination flashing in her brilliant tangerine eyes that tried to cover up any signs of her previous uncertainty; however I knew better.

_She's still worried about something..._

"I thought I was the one that was supposed to suggest the crazy missions." Piper just shrugged at my comment. "I mean, no offense or anything, but there is a Cyclonian outpost on Amazonia now…."

"Aerrow, if there is any chance this can help me find out more about this crystal, my abilities… my family, I have to take a risk."

_So that's why she's acting so determined... part of this has to do with her family... Well I'm sure not letting her go to that terra alone!_

"_You _take a risk?" I said looking at her, "_We'll _take a risk. I don't want you to go there by yourself."

"Says the boy who went to Cyclonia by himself."

"I'm not a boy, I'm a young adult." I said poking Piper in the ribs.

"Then why are you poking me?" I just shrugged as I turned towards the Condor.

"Where are you going?" Piper called as she ran up to me.

"If we are going to a terra with Cyclonians on it, we sure don't want them to know it's us."

Piper nodded and said, "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

I couldn't help but laugh at Piper's exuberance as we raced each other back inside.

* * *

Piper's POV

"Come on!" I heard Aerrow yell from his skimmer.

Turning around, I saw that Aerrow wasn't really Aerrow anymore. He was wearing the green toque again, his beautiful emerald eyes were now hazel, and his hair had turned to a brownish colour.

Aerrow and I had both agreed that the need to disguise ourselves made sense, as Aerrow's comment about the Cyclonian outpost was a good one.

_I sure don't want them to know Aerrow and the others are still alive. If we can hide out long enough, maybe we can make a sneak attack on Cyclonia. Master Cyclonis will never see it coming! _

My shoes didn't have the chroma crystal technology I had invented for Aerrow's stealth shoes, so I threw a chroma crystal in my pocket instead.

I no longer had blue hair or orange eyes. My eyes had turned to a golden colour, and my hair had turned black.

_Just like mom..._

It was because of my parents that my hair and eyes were so unique… I seemed to be a clone of the two shoved into one.

_I'm into crystals and Sky Fu like my dad was, and I'm into maps like mom…I also inherited my abilities from her. I wonder if Dad had them too..._

Sighing I pulled my now black hair into a loose ponytail, leaving my bangs out of it so that they could fall around my face.

I walked over to my heliscooter and was about to mount it when I heard Aerrow's voice again.

"We don't need to take two skimmers, just jump on mine."

"Um, sure." I said as I hesitantly got on the skimmer behind Aerrow.

"You better hold onto something, cause' we're about to fly!" Aerrow told me as he gunned the engine and we flew off of the Condor's runway and into the sky.

I gave a shriek of excitement as we flew towards the terra of Amazonia.

Glancing down at my crystal, I saw that it was beginning to glow softly.

_Is it glowing because it knows there are Talons on the terra, or is what Ayrgyn said actually true…?_

I pushed my thoughts aside, and prepared for the landing.

A few moments later, Aerrow and I were on the terra, having used the same strategy as he and Starling did when they had to land on terra Bogaton. We had flown low beneath the clouds, and then had pulled up at the last second to avoid anyone who may have been on the lookout.

As I got off the skimmer, I felt at peace standing on the ground of my home terra, yet it wrenched at my heart as well.

_I'm the last of my tribe..._

* * *

Finn's POV

"Where did Aerrow and Piper go?" I asked Stork as I walked onto the bridge.

"They went out to do a little recon, where have you been?" Stork said, his eye twitching slightly.

"I've been around." I said as I moved over to where a periscope was. I had actually been in my room hiding, er… strategizing on how to avoid that colourful bird that had attacked me earlier.

_It's almost like the bird didn't want me to spy on Piper and Aerrow... ha! Like a bird could be that smart!_

"Where did they exactly go for recon? We're supposed to be hiding out, remember?" I said as I pulled down the periscope and scanned the skies for their skimmers.

"They said something about Amazonia," Stork said, and when I glanced up from the periscope, I saw that the twitch in his eye was becoming more obvious. "They're_ so_ doomed."

I just shook my head at Stork's doom and gloom account of where they went.

Turning back to the scope, I finally caught sight of something shining in the distance. Focusing in on where the shining was coming from, I saw Piper and Aerrow and the edge of the terra, standing on the edge of the jungle. At least I was pretty sure it was Piper and Aerrow.

_I guess they must have used some of the chroma crystals._

Zooming in closer I saw Piper fall to the ground, her shoulders shaking.

_Wait a second, since when does Piper cry?_

I wanted to zoom in farther, but I had to scream as a great big yellow orb appeared in the field of vision in the scope I was using.

Looking through the scope again, I zoomed out to see that pesky bird getting in my way again.

"Oh, its so on birdie!" I said to myself as I ran off the bridge to go and hunt down that dumb bird.

On my way out I heard Stork scream, "Mindworms! He'll infect us all! AH!"

* * *

Aerrow's POV

"Piper?" I asked as I saw a faraway look in her eyes as she stared out into the forest.

"Piper!" I cried as I ran over and slid to a stop next to Piper's now fallen shuddering body.

"Piper?" I asked more gently as I knelt down on tipped her chin up so that I could see her face.

Seeing that her now golden eyes were watering I asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Piper said as she tried to stand up. I grabbed Piper's hand and helped her up.

"Thanks." She mumbled as she turned around to head into the jungle.

Grabbing onto one of her shoulders, I turned Piper around so that she was facing me, and then I placed both of my hands on her shoulders so that she wouldn't be going anywhere fast again.

"Don't pretend like nothing happened Piper, what's wrong?"

"I said its nothing Aerrow!" She said trying to worm out of my grasp.

Gripping her shoulders tighter I said, "Piper calm down! I'm not trying to hurt you!" Piper stopped struggling, and looked at me funny.

_I would never hurt you._

"I just want to help, but it's really hard when you won't tell me anything." Pausing to look into her eyes I added, "I just need to understand what's going on."

I let go of her shoulders, and I noticed that her crystal was glowing again.

_And I wish you could help me understand more about why your crystal keeps doing that..._

* * *

Piper's POV

As Aerrow let go of me, I backed away slightly and crossed my arms before I was lost in my thoughts again.

_He wants to help, he wants to understand. But how could he understand the feeling I have right now? It's not like emotions come with an instruction manual like his skimmer, and I know this crystal of mine sure doesn't have instructions either. The only instruction I ever got was my mom telling me to never EVER take it off. _

_I know he lost his parents at the hands of Cyclonians, and so did I, but my loss seems so much greater some how; I didn't just lose my family. I lost my entire world._

* * *

Flashback

_The same night that Aerrow and his parents found me, we left my terra after grabbing a few things from my house such as my clothes, pictures, and even a few of my favourite toys and dollies._

_While Aerrow and I were in my room, his parents searched the rest of the house for anything that they thought I might need._

"_Wow." Aerrow said after looking around my room. "You really like crystals, don't you?"_

"_Ya, I do." I said as I put my crystals into a small box I had found._

"_Where did you get them all from?" My new friend said as he picked up a small green crystal in attempts to help me pack up. "Ah!" Aerrow yelled as his hand was suddenly covered in slime._

_Giggling I said, "That is my favourite crystal to use to play jokes on my friends."_

_Laughing right back, Aerrow replied, "A little warning next time maybe?" _

_Aerrow's exuberance and cheeky smile didn't last long when he saw my frown._

"_Awe, what's wrong Piper?" The five year old asked me as I took the crystal from him, causing the slime on his arm to disappear._

"_The Cyclonians took all of my friends away." I sniffled as I tried to hold back the tears that had been flowing earlier._

"_Oh, I'm sorry Piper." Aerrow said apologetically as he walked over to me. _

"_It's okay." I mumbled._

_Aerrow's small face suddenly brightened again as he said, "I'll be your friend Piper!"_

"_Really?"_

"_Really!"_

_Looking at my toes again I said, "The Cyclonians won't take you away too, will they?"_

"_Of course not, I promise I'll always be there for you Piper, cause' that's what friends do."_

_I smiled as I set the box of crystals I had been holding down and I gave Aerrow another hug. _

"_Thanks." I said softly into his ear as I tried to ignore the awes and the cooing that was coming from outside the door._

* * *

Trying to push the memories back into my mind I said to Aerrow, "I know that you weren't trying to hurt me."

"Then why were you struggling so much?" Aerrow said with question in his voice.

"I-I don't know." I said as my shoulders slumped and I looked at the ground beneath me. "It's just…" I paused and took a deep breath. "It's just I don't know what's going on with this crystal, and its driving me insane, and the only way to find out is to come back to my home terra. I just don't know what to think Aerrow! This is the place where the Cyclonians took my parents prisoner. For all I know, they may have killed them on this terra."

"It's alright Piper, everything is fine now."

"No Aerrow, everything is NOT fine! My parents are dead, all of my friends are dead, and my whole entire village is gone! I was the sole survivor, remember?!"

Aerrow pulled me into a hug and said, "So that's what this is about." I was surprised at the seriousness of his voice, he was usually so easy going, but now… he seemed so… concerned.

What was even more surprising though was that Aerrow was hugging me. He had never done that ever since we were just little kids….

* * *

Flashback

_A few minutes after the Condor had left Amazonia, Aerrow's mom led me to the room that she had cleaned for me._

"_Here you go Piper, Your own room on the Condor with us Storm Hawks and Aerrow."_

_I gave a small smile as my new friend's mom showed me around my new room. She had even managed to bring my little bedside table that my parents had bought me for my fifth birthday. _

"_You brought my nightstand on board?" I asked, looking up at Aerrow's mom._

"_I convinced my husband to bring it back so that you could have a little taste of home."_

"_Thanks, I love it."_

_Smiling, Aerrow's mom gave me a hug and ruffled my hair before she walked to the door of my room. "Time for bed Piper." She said as she walked out of the room._

_I had managed to get to sleep, but I woke up in the middle of the night after a bad nightmare._

"_Mommy…" I whispered as a tear trickled down my face. I sniffed my nose trying in vain to keep my tears from falling, but after you shed one, more are bound to come. _

"_Piper?" I heard a small voice whisper from the doorway._

"_Mhm?" I murmured, trying to disguise the fact that I was crying._

"_Are you okay?" Aerrow said stepping into my room._

_I shook my head no as Aerrow sat down on the edge of my bed._

"_What's wrong?"_

_Sniffling I replied, "I can't help but think about my parents and my friends. I keep having nightmares."_

"_Do you want me to get my mommy? She can always help my nightmares go away."_

_I shook my little head no again. "I'll be fine soon. I'm just glad you showed up."_

"_Me too." Aerrow said as he gave me a hug, my fresh tears falling on his little shoulder._

"_Are you going to be okay sleeping in here by yourself tonight?" Aerrow asked as he stopped hugging me._

_I could only shrug my shoulders. I really didn't want to be alone for the rest of the night, but I didn't want to be a bother to Aerrow either._

"_I'll be back in a minute!" Aerrow said as he rushed out of the room. I couldn't help but wonder what he was doing. _

_A few moments later, Aerrow came back into my room, dragging his blue blanket behind him, with the little blue creature he found in the alleyway earlier on top of it._

"_What are you doing?" I asked Aerrow he walked up to my bed._

_Aerrow just grinned as he took the little blue creature off of his blanket, and set him down on the covers of my bed._

"_Radarr and I are going to stay here with you tonight."_

"_You named him Radarr?" I asked as my red headed friend nodded enthusiastically._

"_Ya, it's like he can see and hear everything that goes on around him." Aerrow replied as he climbed up onto the foot of my bed, and curled up next to Radarr as he threw the blanket over him._

"_I like it."_

_A yawn disrupting his smiling Aerrow drowsily said, "Goodnight Piper."_

"_Goodnight." I replied as I drifted off to sleep._

* * *

Aerrow gently rubbed my back as a few of my tears fell onto his shirt. I gingerly leaned my head against his shoulder as I thought about everything Aerrow and I had gone through together.

_We've been through the invasion of my terra, the death of his parents, we went through school together, and then there were the Knight Trials for Aerrow. Then just two years ago, we formed a new Storm Hawks squadron and have been kicking Cyclonian tail since._

I smiled at the memories, and was about to thank Aerrow for understanding when I felt a growing pulse coming from my Amp Stone. I quickly jumped back from Aerrow as I grabbed onto my crystal, willing it to stop.

"What's wrong?" I heard Aerrow say, a slightly hurt expression on his face.

"Sorry, it's just my crystal started going crazy." Aerrow nodded as he turned around to look at the jungle, while he rubbed the back of his head.

_He only does that when he's not sure what to say..._

I turned to say something to him, but then I saw a group of Cyclonian Talons headed towards us from the South.

"Aerrow look!" I cried as I pointed towards to incoming Talons.

_I was afraid that this would happen..._

Aerrow's leadership kicking in he said, "Quick help me hide the skimmer in this clump of bushes!"

I nodded as I helped him push the skimmer into the bushes.

"What do we do now?" I whispered as the Talons approached.

"We run and try to hide in the village; do you still remember the way?"

I nodded my head and motioned for Aerrow to follow me.

_I never wanted to come back to this terra as long as I lived because of the memories here, and now... now the memories are plaguing me._

* * *

**So what did you all think? Was it worth the wait? (sorry if it wasn't, and sorry if it got too long!)**

**As promised, here is the info for Cookie Challenge 6 (yeesh I haven't given you guys one of these in FOREVER!)**

**As you have all probably guessed 'The Clue' in this chapter is as follows :**

****

_**Behind The Waterfall is what you seek,**_

_**but You must come kind and meek.**_

_**for only then Will you Find what it is that you seek.**_

_**The mystery of centuries gone by,**_

_**Secrets Revealed Of a treasured mind.**_

_**Shapes come together as one,**_

_**Shifting and falling into their place**_

**_all In Centuries Gone By._**

Your Challenge is to find the second, more precise clue hidden within this one. I will be awarding a total of THREE cookies for this one, so knock yourselves out!

I've been really busy with homework and soccer lately, but I'll try to update as soon as I can, just because you are all awesome readers!

Crimson Fox4


	12. The Letter

**Thanks again to Unleash The Shadow!**

**Ok, so this chapter is pretty short compared to the last one, but maybe that's a good thing. **

**Alright, this chapter starts in Aerrow's POV and I don't have anything else to say right now soooo... On with the story!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks. They are the Property of Nerd Corps (I've been telling you this for how long... ?)**

**Chapter 11!!**

* * *

Chapter 11

_The Letter_

"Come on!" Piper shouted to me as we ran through the jungle.

_Piper hasn't been here for years, but how come she can move through this jungle so fast?_

I shrugged as I raced after her as I heard more tramping and crashing coming from behind us.

_I guess the Talons spotted us after all..._

After a few more minutes of running, I could hear the noises behind us moving further and further away as we out ran the Talons, but I knew we weren't safe yet.

Piper suddenly stopped in front of me, and I couldn't help but run into her and knock her over.

"What's wrong? Why did we stop?" I said to Piper as I followed her eyes. "Oh."

Piper had stopped at the edge of the jungle and was now looking out at the edge of her old village, many of the houses destroyed by the fire all those years ago. Any houses that were left standing after the fire looked like they would fall down any minute if the wind so much as blew.

I picked myself up and grabbed onto Piper's wrist and said, "Sorry but we need to hide!" With that being said I pulled Piper down the small slope from the jungle to the abandoned village below.

As we ran through the streets, I couldn't help but wonder what Piper must have been thinking.

_I hope she's doing fine; I know I would be having issues too if I had to suddenly go back to my home terra that held bad memories for me._

As I looked around the alleyway I couldn't help but feel that somehow this place was familiar to me.

* * *

Piper's POV

_I wonder if Aerrow knows that this is the same alleyway he found me in over ten years ago. I know it's silly, but I feel as though I was here yesterday, even though I haven't stepped foot on this terra in years._

"In here!" Aerrow cried as he pulled me into one of the deteriorating houses.

Once I was inside Aerrow slammed the door behind me and bolted it.

"We've got to find somewhere in here to hide!" I heard Aerrow say behind me, but I wasn't really paying attention to him.

"Piper?" I heard him say as his footsteps came closer to me. But once again I ignored him as I couldn't take my eyes off of the floor in front of me.

"Piper, what's wro…" Aerrow stopped mid-sentence as he realized what I was staring at.

On the floor in front of us was dried blood from a long time ago.

_Probably from the night the Cyclonians attacked my village..._

It wasn't just the blood that captured my attention; it was the way that it had dried.

_Almost in the outline of something..._

Prying my eyes from the floor, I looked around the rest of the decaying house.

_Its all so familiar, but so foreign all at once..._

Then it hit me.

_We're in... my house? What are the chances? _

Looking back down at the blood stained floor, I realized something.

_If this is my house, then that means... oh no!_

It was all I could do to suppress the lump growing in my throat as I knelt down and traced the outline of the blood that had formed that fateful night all those years ago.

"No!" I whispered to myself as my hand flew to my lips. "No, no, No!" I said a bit more loudly.

_No..._

"Piper, I'm sorry, I know this is hard, but we need to find somewhere better to hide." Aerrow said resting a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

I nodded as I fought back the tears that had begun to form at the edges of my eyes.

"Follow me." I choked as I walked the few steps into the former kitchen.

I cautiously opened the door of the pantry and started to cough as years of dust became airborne.

After my coughing passed, I pulled a can out and pressed a button that it had been concealing. With a quiet whir of gears and a motor, the pantry slid down into the floor revealing a set of steep stairs.

_I'm surprised that this doorway still works after all of these years..._

Taking out my staff, I activated the crystal on the end that gave off a soft glow as I descended down the stairs, Aerrow trailing after me.

Hearing another whir of the gears and motor, a soft click came from the top of stairway, and the darkness of the passage seemed to become more pressing.

"Can we still get out if that door closed?" Aerrow asked as we continued down the stairs.

"I think so."

"You _think _so?"

"Sorry, I've only been down here a few times."

After a few more moments of walking down the stairs, we came to a large underground cavern.

"I wonder…" I said under my breath as I walked towards the wall and flicked one of the hidden light switches. After a few seconds, several rows of crystals embedded into the ceiling began to glow soft shades of yellow.

"Wow." I heard Aerrow whisper beside me.

I smiled as I looked at the cavern as well.

_I guess no one has been here for a while, but for some reason it looks like the last person to find it made a bit of a mess..._

I walked over to one of the desks in the centre of the room, and looked over the papers that were scattered across it. I gently blew of the dust, and picked up another yellowing sheet.

_Dearest Piper,_

I let go of the paper in shock, and it floated down to the floor.

_Wha- What? Why is that letter addressed to me?_

Seeing me drop the paper, Aerrow walked up beside me and picked it up from the floor.

"What is it?" Aerrow asked, his emerald eyes probing my tangerine ones.

"I-I'm not really sure." I said, taking the piece of paper from his outstretched hands. "I think it might be a letter, but, it's addressed to me, it doesn't make sense."

"There's only one way to find out." Aerrow said as he looked over my shoulder at the letter I was now reading.

_

* * *

_

Dearest Piper,

_I'm not really sure if you'll ever read this Piper, but I'm writing it anyways. I need to tell you a few things, things you'll need if you are to be successful in your duties as a shape shifter and Guardian of the Amplifying Stone._

* * *

I paused to look up at Aerrow to see his reaction.

Looking at me he asked, "Who is this from?"

"My-my mom!" I stuttered as I continued to read this letter she had written me so long ago.

_

* * *

_

For centuries our people have been living on this terra, isolated from the outside world. It was only around a hundred years ago that Sky Knights from Atmosia came to scout our terra. That Sky Knight squadron was the first group of outsiders to be witness of the awesome power of the Amp Stone and our family's abilities.

* * *

"So the Amp Stone and shape shifting abilities have been passed down through your family for centuries?" Aerrow asked me, as I looked up from the letter briefly.

"Ya, I guess so." I said, in a hurry to get back to the new found piece of history in my hands.

_

* * *

_

Your shape shifting abilities come from my side of the family. It usually tends to skip a generation, but it just so happened that both you and I are possessors of these great abilities. When matched with the Amp Stone, your abilities will be second to none.

_I'm writing you this because of dreams, or rather nightmares I've been having ever since the run in with the Talons in the alleyway a few weeks before your fifth birthday. It is now the day after your birthday, and words can not express the joy I have to know that one day you will grow up and I can give you the Amp Stone as yours._

_In my nightmares, I always see the Cyclonians coming to invade our village. They always end up coming to take you away, but I won't let that happen on my life. _

_So I decided to write this letter in case anything ever happens to me when the day comes that Cyclonians invade our village. _

_I know that day will come as a few hundred years ago a shard of the legendary oracle crystal was drafted into the Amp Stone. Its intended purpose was to let the Guardian of the Stone to be able to predict an enemy's next move, but the shard took a different direction._

_I would tell you what direction it went, but now is not the time._

* * *

"What direction do you think your mom is talking about?" Aerrow said, his eyes scanning the letter again.

"I'm not really sure." I lied.

_Now definitely isn't the time to tell him what I learned from Ayrgyn this morning._

Aerrow nodded as we both continued to read the letter.

_

* * *

_

I believe the nightmares I have been having lately may somehow be connected to the shard of the oracle crystal within my Stone, but I am not sure.

_Piper, I know this all most be overwhelming to you if you are finding this after the Cyclonians attacked, and if they did indeed take me away. I can only hope that you will find a way to discover more about your abilities without me. _

_Piper, I have left a map of this terra with a clue on it in your father's and my bedroom. I know you are a bight girl and will no doubt figure out what it means. _

_Above all be careful in your journey of life my dear, I can only hope that someone with as much love for you as your father and I have for you takes you in. _

_Our family secret is one to keep to yourself Piper, if the news ever reached the wrong ears, it could spell catastrophe for the entire Atmos._

_Good luck in your journeys of discovery, and may your life be a happy one._

_Love,_

_Mom _

_P.S. In the drawer of this desk that you most likely found this letter on, there is a present for you. You will need it for your upcoming journey once you decipher the clue on the map. Good luck my daughter!_

* * *

I carefully folded the note and put it into my backpack that I had brought with me for the 'recon' mission.

Without saying a word to Aerrow, I slowly opened the drawer to come face to face with a pure white crystal. Looking carefully, I saw a small note attached to it that said:

_If you find yourself faced with darkness, _

_With this you may find the light in which you seek._

"More riddles?" I said aloud.

Chuckling Aerrow said, "Hey, your mom did say that you were bright, I know you'll figure it out."

I smiled at Aerrow and his faith in me and was about to close the drawer when something else caught my eye.

"I wonder what this is..." I mumbled as I reached into the drawer to once again pull out another crystal, but this one was a dormant crystal with a soft rose colour to it. This time, the crystal had no instructions with it.

Sighing, I put the two crystals into my backpack and said, "Follow me."

"Don't you need to find the map first Piper?" Aerrow asked me.

"We already have it, it's the one I found earlier with the clue written on it beside the waterfall."

"But your mom's letter said that you would find it in your parent's room."

"I know, but I think it must have been something that your parents found when we were searching through my house. They must have kept it for me."

"Well that's lucky."

I nodded my head as I headed further into the depths of the cavern.

"Where are we going?" Aerrow asked as he caught up to me and fell into step beside me.

"I'm not quite sure."

_With any luck, out of here._

* * *

**Alright, I hope you all enjoyed chapter 11!**

**I know I've said this before, but the next chapter SHOULD be Waterfall Wonder.**

**Oh by the way, I still have one Cookie to give out for Cookie Challenge 6. You all remember that one right?**

Behind The Waterfall is what you seek,

but You must come kind and meek.

for only then Will you Find what it is that you seek.

The mystery of centuries gone by,

Secrets Revealed Of a treasured mind.

Shapes come together as one,

Shifting and falling into their place

all In Centuries Gone By.

**Ok, so my clue for you guys is to look at this clue with a very critical and technical eye. **

**All you have to do is message me with the clue that is hidden within the one above.**

**Congratulations to CaelanBell and Aces of Aces 2.0 who have won the other two cookies for this challenge so far.**

**Best of luck with your puzzle!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	13. Waterfall Wonder

**Hey I'm back! Just want to say a quick thanks to Unleash The Shadow for editing once again, and to Crystal Lit Moon for their amazing constructive criticism! (Thats why this chapter MIGHT be better than some of my others, because of these two people that were kind enough to help me)**

**Congrats to the few who decoded my clue to win Cookies in Cookie Challenge six!  
Here are the winners! :**

**An anonymous reviewer: The Fallen One  
SakariWolfe  
Aces of Aces 2.0  
Quazety  
CaelanBell**

**Alright, so I know I said that I was only going to give out three cookies, but I felt generous and gave out more! : D If missed your name, I'm really sorry, and message me, and I'll mention you in my notes next chapter!  
And let me guess, you all want the answer, am I right? Well you're going to have to wait till the end of theis chapter to find out!**

**Alright, so this chapter is starting in Finn's perspective by the way, and its another long chapter, so brace yourselves! (Longest one yet!) Enough of this chitter chatter, Enjoy the chapter!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps. (once again, I know that you all know this by now)**

**Voila, Chapter 12!!**

* * *

Chapter 12

_Waterfall Wonder_

"Get back here you dumb bird!" I cried as I raced after the colourful bird that had been bugging me all day.

"Don't squawk the squawk unless you can drop the bop!" The bird appeared to say.

All I could do was blink in surprise.

_No way! That bird couldn't have just talked! But what it said, if it did say anything, seems vaguely familiar..._

"Did I just miss something here?" I asked as I stopped chasing the bird.

"That depends." I heard a voice on the wind say.

"Boo!" someone behind me yelled in my ear.

"AH!" I screamed as I fell onto the ground with a resounding thud.

The bird I had been chasing earlier suddenly landed on me, looking me over with its large yellow eyes.

"Hey Finn, what'cha doing?" Junko said as he walked up to me. Seeing the bird Junko asked, "Is that who I think it is?"

"I don't know, you tell me." I replied with a shaky voice, as the weight of the bird was squishing my lungs.

"I mean, it looks familiar…" A contemplating Junko said.

"It talks too." I moaned as it jumped off of my stomach and landed next to Junko.

"Hey little fella!" Junko said kindly as he extended his hand towards the bird.

"I see you didn't get that manicure yet!" The bird seemed to say.

"AH!" Junko and I both screamed.

Picking me off of the ground, Junko and I raced towards the Condor, hoping that the bird wouldn't be able to follow us.

Screaming as we ran inside, Junko turned around and flipped a switch to shut the hangar bay doors, but the bird flew inside just before the doors closed.

Laughing uneasily, I backed away from the approaching bird until my back hit the hard cold metal of the hangar wall that I had crashed into on my skimmer more times than I can count. "Nice birdie..."

"Hey Finn, look!" Junko exclaimed, pointing to a sack beside me.

"What?"

"The bag!"

"Huh?" I looked at the bag, and had to suppress my urge to vomit. "Junko, gloopy fruit isn't going to help us right now!"

"You're right, and do you have any idea how hard it is to get out of glittersilk?"

Looking up from the bag of gloopy fruit I had to shield my eyes as a red-orange glow filled the hangar bay.

"It's Ayrgyn!" Junko said excitedly as he made his way over to the shape changer.

_Just lovely..._

* * *

Aerrow's POV

Cold, dark, dreary, and foreboding were just some of the words that you could use to describe the passage that Piper and I had been walking down for at least half an hour.

"Piper," I began hesitantly, "Are you sure this is the right way out?"

"I'm positive, besides here are some steps," She said as she stepped onto one. "Nice, human made steps."

I nodded as I followed her up the stairs while I calmly gripped my energy blades in my hands. I had pulled them out a while ago so that they could add to the light that the crystal on the end of Piper's staff was already making.

_But where do these stairs lead?_

Lost in my ponderings, I didn't notice that Piper had stopped, and I ran into her, knocking her off balance.

"Piper!" I cried as I gripped her wrist before she fell backwards down the stairs.

_I can't quite place it, but this tunnel seems to be a bit brighter now... Piper's Amp Stone, of course! It must have lit up because it thought I was trying to hurt her._

I couldn't help but laugh inside my head at the thought.

_Me hurt Piper? Like that would ever happen! But then again, why does the Stone always activate when she's around me?_

The laughter inside my noggin suddenly ceased as I realized something.

_That Amp Stone has a piece of the Oracle Crystal in it, what if I'm going to be a danger to Piper in the future? How can that happen? I would never hurt her! She's my friend! Friends don't hurt friends, do they? Wha- what if I'm not her friend in the future?_

As I helped her up Piper joked, "How many times have you knocked me over today anyways?"

"I don't know, a few times?" I said shrugging my shoulders. "What did you stop for anyways?" I asked Piper while I tried to put my inhibitions aside.

* * *

Piper's POV

_Wow, Aerrow seems really out of it for some reason, why else would he run into me? Besides, the usual spark in his eyes seemed to have vanished just a second ago._

Ignoring the pestering thoughts in my head, I answered Aerrow's question, "I stopped because of that."

Pointing towards the ceiling above me, I could make out the rough outline of a trap door, with a few faint rays of glorious sunlight streaming through.

"Well what do you know," Aerrow said as he rested his hand on my shoulder. "You found the way out Piper!"

"And you doubted me!" Aerrow's smirk turned into a small frown when he saw that my crystal was glowing again.

_How am I supposed to keep this new secret from Aerrow if my crystal keeps glowing?_

Aerrow quickly let his hand drop from my shoulder to his side before he asked, "How do we get out without tipping off any Talons about this underground passageway?"

"Well... I do know one way…" I began tentatively.

_Do I really want to make him more suspicious than he already is?_

"And what's that?"

"My escape crystal." I replied simply as I grabbed onto his wrist.

"The trap door is pretty high up though, I don't think you'd even be able to get to it and open it manually if you stood on my shoulders.

_Who said anything about height? It doesn't matter if you are a shape shifter!_

Glancing down at my Amp Stone, I saw that the charge was steadily growing stronger.

_Wow! I don't know if Aerrow is my true love or not, but whenever I'm around him it activates my Amp Stone to one degree or another..._

Feeling a surge of energy running through my veins, I knew that the Amp Stone had activated itself.

I hastily bent down and pressed the button on my shoe to activate the escape crystal.

"Piper?" A hazy voice entered my mind.

_Why can I never hear or concentrate on anything when I'm building up energy to shift?_

_Focus Piper! You can't use your primary shape shift; a Phoenix's flames would burn Aerrow, and attract too much attention when we're on the surface again... I know!_

Focusing on the animal I required, I opened my eyes and looked down at my arms and hands to see that they had been replaced with feathered wings.

_YES!_

* * *

Aerrow's POV

"Piper?" I whispered hoarsely as I saw a flicker of light blue energy radiating from her disguised orange eyes.

_Is she going to...?_

Following the whirlwind of energy and a bright flash of sky blue,I couldn't help but cringe as I heard the screech of a bird of prey, and looking up, I saw one. It was a rare bird native to Amazonia with brilliant green, blue tipped feathers, and a vibrant yellow crest.

_How was Piper able to shape shift though? I mean, I thought she had to be in danger..._

"Come on Aerrow! The escape crystal won't last for long you know!" Looking at the bird, I realized that Piper had actually talked while she was in a form other than her own.

_But Piper didn't talk when she was a phoenix... _

"Piper? I thought you weren't able to talk when you used your abilities!"

"I kind of forgot about it until now..." Piper said flapping her wings as she gently grabbed onto my shoulders with her strong talons.

"What are you doing?" I yelled up to Piper as I could no longer feel solid ground beneath my feet.

"I'm getting us out of here!"

Looking down at my hand I realized that it had become transparent and distorted like it had at Cyclonia when Piper had dragged me through the prison wall.

_Well at least now I know how we're going to get out of here, but still, how did she shape shift? Unless..._

* * *

Piper's POV

Once we were fully above the ground and in the sun's warm embrace, I carefully set Aerrow down in a tree before I landed on the branch next to him.

"How did you do that?" Aerrow said, staring at me as I folded my newfound wings.

"Well... you just concentrate and..." I began before Aerrow cut me off.

"Not the shape shifting itself Piper, getting the Amp Stone to activate, how did it? We weren't in any trouble, were we?"

_Oh man, he might be figuring this out..._

I felt my concentration slipping, and I let out a bird like screech as I fell from my perch and plummeted to the terra below me.

"Piper!" I heard Aerrow yell from above me.

I felt my energy draining, but I managed to get some air under my wings before I came to a skidding crash landing, managing to stop before careening down a steep incline.

_Ouch, that hurt._

Letting go of every ounce of concentration I had managed to maintain, I felt the blue energy swirl around me before it receded into the depths of my Amp Stone.

My eyes felt heavy, and I wasn't sure if I was going to black out again or if I was just tired.

I was almost ready to close my eyes when I felt a rush of air sweep over me, and I heard a familiar sound in front of me. Looking up, I saw Aerrow's emerald orbs that were disguised as hazel were staring down at me, filled with concern while his battle glider wings retracted.

_So that's what the sound was, his glider._

"Piper, are you ok?" Aerrow asked; his voice filled with concern as he offered me his hand to help me get up.

"I think so." I replied, as I rested one of my hands on my throbbing forehead.

"I don't. You just fell out of a tree!"

"Your point?"

"You were a bird Piper, why didn't you just fly back?"

"I guess I was too shocked."

"Piper..." Aerrow said sternly meeting me head on with a concerned gaze.

Aerrow's concerned eyes soon beat my tired ones as I said, "Fine, I wasn't shocked."

As I stared at my feet, I heard Aerrow's kind voice ask, "Then what happened?"

"I-I don't know..."

"You look really tired Piper, what's wrong?"

_Wow, what a time for Aerrow to be persistent._

"Well..." Aerrow said after silence followed his previous question he had asked me.

"You know how I passed out when I was a phoenix?"

"Ya..." Aerrow said hesitantly as he looked me over with wary eyes.

"Well, the truth is that my abilities, this Stone," I said as I toyed with the crystal that was shimmering in the afternoon sunlight. "They both take a whole lot of concentration. I guess you could say that it takes away more then my concentration, it feels like it drains some of my energy as well... It's kind of hard to explain."

Aerrow nodded and motioned for me to turn around. Once he saw the question in my eyes, he explained, "If you really are okay, I think I found something that you were looking for."

I attempted to turn around, but instead my legs gave out and I found myself falling towards the ground; that is until Aerrow caught me.

Helping me get up, Aerrow spun me around, and then draped his arm across my shoulders to help steady me. I was about to protest when I realized what Aerrow wanted me to see.

"It's beautiful." I breathed as I looked at the magnificent waterfall that was across the valley from where we stood on a rock outcropping.

Enjoying the view, with my crystal giving off a steady glow, I never realized a skimmer had passed over our heads until it registered with my brain a moment later.

"Um, Aerrow?" I asked as I turned my neck around to see behind me.

"Ya?" He replied as he looked down at me before following my gaze. "Oh." Was all Aerrow said as he too realized that there was a skimmer in the sky.

The black and red skimmer turned around and headed towards us, the wings retracting as it transformed into bike mode and roared towards us.

The Talon patrol yelled, "Hey you! Get back here!" As Aerrow and I made a mad dash for the protection the undergrowth in the jungle would give us.

A few moments after, both Aerrow and I were surprised to hear to more skimmers overhead, tracking our movement from above the tree canopy.

"How can they see us through the trees?" Aerrow yelled to me.

"I don't know! They must be using x-ray peepers like Stork has!" I yelled back as I vaulted over a fallen log and into a clearing.

_Just our luck! We're trying to escape from Talons, and we run into a clearing! Just lovely..._

"Piper look out!" I heard Aerrow exclaim before he tackled my legs and I fell to the ground.

"Aerrow! What are you doing?" I yelled as a Cyclonian skimmer came closer, swooping low for the kill.

"Trust me!" Aerrow replied as his right hand reached behind his head. I cringed as blasts of red tore through the air towards us. All of the shots missed, except for one.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Aerrow draw one of his energy blades from his back, ignite it, and use its blue energy now disguised as green to slice through the Talon's switchblade.

I had to smile a bit as I saw the Talon bail out before the switchblade crashed into the soggy Amazonian ground. The smile was wiped off my face though as I felt a sharp pain in the calf of my right leg.

"Ah!" I felt a cry of pain escape my lips.

Aerrow, now standing, saw my pain and ran over to me. After quickly glancing at my leg, Aerrow picked me up and ran into the jungle before the Talons could regroup. After a few minutes, Aerrow stopped running and gently set me down next to the trunk of an ancient tree.

We both held our breaths, listening and looking for any signs of approaching Talons. Not detecting any, Aerrow bent down to inspect my leg. Even though he only touched it slightly, another sharp pain ricocheted up my injured limb.

"Please don't touch it." I mumbled as I looked down at the ugly wound that the Talon's fire had inflicted on me.

"I have to Piper; I need to make sure you're fine."

"I am fine though!" I said as I hastily stood up, wobbling and trying to ignore the stabs of pain.

"Sure..." Aerrow said rolling his eyes. "Walk to that tree and back."

I slowly made my way over to the tree Aerrow had pointed at, and halfway there I felt as though I might collapse at any second.

Walking up to where I had stood, giving up on walking just moments before, Aerrow kindly said, "How about I look at your leg before the Cyclonians find us again?"

I nodded my head slightly as I lowered myself to the ground before trying to take off my boot like shoe, but I just couldn't. It hurt too much. I pulled my hands away, only to see that they were covered in a warm sticky liquid.

"That doesn't look like a good sign," Aerrow began as he saw the blood on my hands. "Are you sure you can't get your boot off?"

"Not right now, but maybe later." Aerrow nodded his head and to my surprise he ripped one of his sleeves off of his shirt.

"What are you doing?" I whispered as I motioned towards the ripped sleeve that was now in his hand.

"Well we need to get your leg to stop bleeding somehow, so this was all I could think of to bandage it with."

"Oh." I said quietly while he gingerly wrapped the makeshift bandage around my wound before tying it tightly. When he tied the bandage, I took a sharp intake of breath, but I managed not to give any other indication that I was in pain.

Grabbing onto my wrist, Aerrow slowly helped me to me feet before saying, "Get on."

"What are you talking about Aerrow?" I was really confused at what he was trying to get me to do.

"We came here for a reason, and we might not get a chance to come back for a while. We're going to get to that waterfall, even if I have to carry you."

I suppressed a giggle as I asked, "Are you sure you want to carry me?"

"Yes, now get on." Aerrow replied, with his back towards me. I could only shrug as I jumped onto his back, and he began to walk forward into the jungle headed towards the waterfall to the North of us.

_Aerrow hasn't given me a piggy-back in awhile, I forgot how much fun it can be._

I couldn't help but smile slightly as Aerrow walked on.

After a few minutes of silence between us I mentioned, "I forgot how much fun this was."

"When you say fun, do you mean fun for you or fun for me?" Aerrow said, with a cocky grin on his face.

I couldn't help but laugh, as he had a point.

"Hey Piper, Look!" Aerrow said to me as he walked through a wall of greenery.

On the other side of the wall was a crystal clear river, with rocks across it like stepping stones and the faint roar of a waterfall in the distance. The picturesque scene was beautiful. Slipping off of Aerrow's back I said, "Let's rest for a minute, you've been carrying me for a while now."

"Sure." My red-headed friend replied as he stretched his back.

"Hey! Who are you?" An angry voice called to us from downstream.

Looking to my left, I noticed a small group of Talons starting to run towards us.

"Run!" Aerrow yelled as he pulled on my wrist, dragging me behind him. I tried to keep up, but he hadn't been giving me a piggy-back earlier for no reason. With each step I took, my leg cried out in pain; a pain that was getting harder and harder to ignore.

Yanking on my hand again, Aerrow redirected our path of escape as he jumped out into the river, skillfully landing on one of the stones and me on another.

"What are you doing!?" I cried as Aerrow continued to tow me along behind him.

"Just trust me!" He yelled back as we continued to jump from one stone to another, my leg screaming in objection the entire time.

"Hey you, Stop!" I heard the Talons cry from the river bank, alerting a few more that had been in the jungle.

We were now running and jumping from one rock to another in a fast flowing river, with Talons on the riverbanks on either side of us, the roar of a waterfall becoming more and more noticeable.

"Whoa!" Aerrow yelled as he suddenly stopped, balancing on the rock he was on. After he had regained his balance, I looked over his shoulder and saw that he had stopped at the top of a waterfall, water plunging off the rock face all around us.

"I think I found your waterfall Piper." Aerrow said quietly.

"While we're finding things, we need to find a way out of here Aerrow!" I whispered back to him.

_I just hope the Talons don't hear me calling him Aerrow. _

"We've got Talons all around us!" I quickly whispered to him again.

"Oh, right." Aerrow said looking up from the waterfall, and to the Talons that were now surrounding us.

"You've got no where to go now fugitives!" A Talon captain spat out.

_Oh man, what are we going to do?_

Aerrow once more looked from the waterfall to the Talons that had gathered on the riverbanks, a goofy grin on his face.

"You trust me right?" Aerrow's breath tickled my ear as he leaned in to whisper to me.

"Ya..." I wasn't sure what his plan was, but his smile was a telltale sign that he had one.

"Good." Aerrow said as he quickly grabbed me around the waist, and pulled me with him over the face of the rock, diving head first towards the churning waters below.

"Aerrow!!" I yelled before we plunged into the water.

The breath knocked out of my lungs, I felt water enter my mouth instead of air, as I felt Aerrow's hand lose its grip before the current broke us apart.

* * *

Aerrow's POV

I coughed up the water that had gotten in my lungs as I staggered, and fell onto my hands and knees in the shallows of the water near the base of the waterfall.

Once my coughing fit passed, out of habit, I grinned and turned around to find Piper and listen to her tell me how stupid what I had just done was, but something was wrong. Something was missing.

_PIPER!_

I frantically looked all around me, searching for one of my dearest friends in the entire Atmos.

_Where are you Piper?_

My eyes continued to scan the churning water and shoreline until they landed on an object down the shore line, as I saw the sun's light reflect off of something.

"Piper?" I whispered to myself as I raced down the beach like shore to where the very still form of my friend lay.

I slid to a stop next to her body, and knelt next to her.

"Piper, no..." I once again whispered as a tear slipped down my cheek.

Piper was so still it almost looked like she was dead. I quickly grabbed her wrist and felt for a pulse. I gave out a huge sigh of relief when I felt one, even if it wasn't very strong.

Hearing shouts coming from above the waterfall I quickly, but gently, gathered Piper into my arms, and I raced as quickly as I could to the base of the cliff close to the waterfall.

_At least if I stay close to the bottom of the cliff, they have less of a chance of seeing us... but what's this?_

My thoughts came do an abrupt halt as I saw a large crack at the base of the waterfall.

_Just large enough for a person to walk through... Wait a second! The crack is behind the waterfall!_

The gears in my head soon started to click as my brain finally connected the dots.

_Behind The Waterfall is what you seek,_

_but You must come kind and meek._

_for only then Will you Find what it is that you seek._

The first part of the riddled clue coming to mind I realized that it was more a clue than a riddle; there _was _actually something behind the waterfall.

I cautiously headed into the small opening. I was worried about how to carry Piper, and a light of some form at the same time when the rocky walls of the cave began to glow an eerie blue colour.

Suspecting Piper's crystal may have bee the source of energy, I looked down and saw that it was pulsing slowly, but steadily, although it was hardly enough to light up the tunnel as it had.

_Okay, I have to admit, this is getting just a little weird..._

After a minute or so of walking through the tunnel, I came out into a large underground cavern, much like the one I had been earlier today when we had to hide from the Cyclonians the first time around.

I couldn't help but utter, "Wow." As the instant I had stepped foot into the cavern, blue energy and light rushed up the walls and to the centre of the ceiling above me.

_Alright, now that's REALLY weird..._

Once I was in the room by a few steps, I gently laid Piper down on the cold hard floor of the rock cavern, making sure not to hit her head against the rock.

Checking her pulse again, I found it was still there, but it seemed to be lessening with each shaky breath she took.

_I can't lose you Piper. Yesterday morning was bad enough when you jumped off my skimmer! What's wrong with you?_

I gently pulled Piper into a sitting position, and then wrapping my arms around her stomach, and making a fist out of my hands, I made some jerking movements a few times before Piper involuntarily spat out what must have been a few good cups of water.

_Now I'm glad that they taught me some simple first aid stuff at the academy, like the Heimlich maneuver. I never thought I'd have to use it on anyone though, especially one of my teammates... though with Finn and Junko's antics... Well let's just say I didn't think Piper would be the one I would end up using my first aid training on._

Laying Piper back down on the floor, I noticed that she still wasn't breathing very well.

_Piper can hate me later for this, but right now, I need to save her life..._

Leaning my face over hers, I plugged her nose, and was about to give her mouth to mouth when her now golden eyes fluttered open and she took a raspy gulp of air.

I was so surprised that she had woken up, I found myself frozen like a statue again, my face just inches from hers.

Piper looked up at me, did a double take, and then shuffled away from me, until her back was against the wall, her chest heaving, and her dark skin turning red from the flush in her cheeks.

I guessed I wasn't doing much better, I'm sure that Piper could see that my blush was just as red if not more so than my hair.

_Wow, this awkward, her waking up to me being that close to her. _

I could feel the heat in my cheeks grow as I stammered, "S-s- sorry."

"It- its okay..." Piper replied, stuttering.

"I-its just you had swallowed water, and..." I said rubbing the back of my head. "Sorry."

"Its fine." Piper mumbled, avoiding looking at me.

An awkward silence choked us until I heard Piper whisper, "Wow."

Looking up, I saw Piper was looking around the cavern, mostly likely in awe of the blue light that seemed to radiate from the walls.

"Where are we?" Piper asked me as she stood up, but then with a groan she slumped back down against the wall. Rushing over, I saw that Piper was gripping her leg and it looked like she was in obvious pain.

I looked over her leg, only to see that her wound had reopened and had gotten worse, as the makeshift bandage I had made earlier had gotten ripped off in the water. The edges of her wound were turning a different colour from the rest, and I couldn't help but wonder why.

_I sure hope her injury isn't getting infected... Who knows how long it will be before we get back to my skimmer and to the uncharted terra?_

Ripping the other sleeve off of my uniform, my now brownish hair fell into my eyes as I tied the new bandage around Piper's leg. I heard her wince as I tied the last knot.

"Behind The Waterfall is what you seek, but You must come kind and meek. For only then Will you Find what it is that you seek." I quoted part of the clue for Piper.

Piper just stared at me funny for a while before saying, "We're behind the waterfall?"

I smiled as I nodded.

_She's so smart..._

I pushed the thoughts in my head aside as I helped Piper to her feet, putting my arm over her shoulder to steady her as she found her balance.

I let go though when I saw that her Amp Stone had begun to glow brighter as soon as I had touched her.

"Piper, why does it keep glowing around me? I'm not a danger to you am I?"

Piper just looked at me, and then toyed around with her crystal.

Finally she said, "I-I don't know, maybe... but I doubt it. I mean there has to be another reason why it keeps glowing."

I just nodded my head in response as I helped Piper walk to the centre of the cavern, so that she would be able to look at it in its entirety.

_So she doesn't know for sure, but who's to say that I'm not going to be a danger to her in the future?_

As she was finally in the centre of the cavern her Amp Stone gave off a brilliant flash of light, and once we had both regained out eye sight, something amazing met our eyes.

The cavern was still lit with the same ambient blue glow as before, except now there was writing and pictures all over the cavern walls.

_Now that I think about it, the glow from the walls looks a whole lot like the purple glow from the oracle crystal when I saw it a couple years back. Except this glow, its light blue; a whole lot like the colour of Piper's crystal..._

Another 'Wow' escaped Piper's lips as she slowly stepped forward towards the first wall near the entrance where the first part of the writing appeared to begin.

_In this cavern, you have found,_

_Memories of other guardians and the Stone bound._

_Take heed, these secrets are meant for the eyes of the Guardian of the Stone._

_Mysteries revealed of centuries gone by, _

_All in this cavern will you find._

"I'm thinking that whoever found the Amp Stone enjoyed riddles and writing in verse, huh?" I joked to Piper.

She just nodded as she slowly limped around the room, soaking up every last bit of information there was.

While Piper explored one part of the wall, I walked across the room to another part, and I found something very interesting indeed.

Between what appeared to be a picture of the Amp Stone and another crystal, on the wall was written:

_Bonds form at an early age,_

_Creating trust to last through decades._

_Now the odd time trust turns into love,_

_And you find yourself face to face with a glow that you have never known._

_Radiant, and alluring, it's something you'll want to be enduring,_

_For the Stone's glow can only grow when you find true love._

_Because of the shard that took the Stone so far,_

_It knows who is the guardian's one to be._

To say the least, I was shocked. Though it was riddled like everything else that had to do with Piper's Amp Stone and her abilities, I seemed to have found the answer to my questions.

_Wow... So, the crystal can glow when it's around the Guardian of the Stone's true love? Could I be Piper's...?_

I had to mentally slap myself before I thought too much about the riddle ad what it could mean.

_Like Piper would ever like me like that anyways... _

I heard footsteps behind me, and I heard Piper gasp as she read the words on the wall in front of me.

"D-did you read that?" Piper asked as she pointed at the wall in front of me. I just nodded.

_I can't really find much to say right now... that's different._

Piper stepped forward and gingerly pressed her hand against the wall, sweeping her hands over the ancient writing, until she pulled her hand away in a rush when the blank area that had been under her fingertips moments before suddenly lit up and glowed with a familiar blue energy.

I just looked at Piper as if to say 'I don't know what's going on either'.

With the sound of stone rubbing against stone, a small tray of rock popped out of the wall, and writing appeared around it:

_If_ _the glow from the Stone is one you've never known,_

_Then touch the stone below to make sure nothing is amiss._

I saw Piper's eyes analyze the sentence before she murmured, "But there isn't a crystal here..."

Deciding to speak, pointing to the picture of the crystal on the right I asked, "I know the one crystal that they show there is the Amp Stone." And then pointing at the crystal on the left I continued, "But what type of crystal is that?"

Looking at the picture quizzically, Piper gave out another small gasp before she said, "That crystal is one of the ones that I took out of my mom's desk!"

Piper took off her backpack and started to rummage through it for the crystal she was looking for. How her backpack had managed to stay on her back in the water, and how nothing fell out of it or got wet was a mystery to me, but I wasn't about to ask, Piper was on to something.

Producing the rose coloured crystal she had found earlier in the day from her backpack, Piper carefully set it down on the piece of rock that had jutted out from the wall of the cavern.

"What good is a dormant crystal going to do?" I asked Piper.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling it has to do with _something_. Otherwise, why would it be drawn on these walls, or why would it have been in the drawer of my mother's desk?

She had a point.

I saw the crystal vibrate before it softly started to glow, its colour mixing with the predominant blue of the room, made the area where Piper and I stood an almost purple colour.

With another small flash of bluish light, more words appeared on the wall, below the small ledge where the crystal lied.

_The two in question, _

_Touch the Stone they must,_

_Or be plagued by questions of 'What if' for the years to come._

"Are we the two in question?" I asked Piper as I turned to look into her beautiful tangerine eyes.

Finally meeting my green eyes I heard Piper whisper, "I think so."

I began to reach out to touch the crystal, but then more writing appeared.

_Wow, a whole lot of instructions just for one crystal...  
_

_In wake of violet true love is yours,_

_Remember,_

_Bonds form at an early age,_

_Creating trust to last through decades._

_Now the odd time trust turns into love,_

_And you find yourself face to face with a glow that you have never known._

_Radiant, and alluring, it's something you'll want to be enduring,_

_For the Stone's glow can only grow when you find true love._

_Because of the shard that took the Stone so far,_

_It knows who is the guardian's one to be._

I took a deep breath and said, "Well?" Piper just looked from me, to the Stone hanging around her neck, and to the crystal on the wall, and then turning back to me Piper said, "There's only one way to find out."

I nodded as I reached out and touched the crystal with my hand. Nothing happened. Looking at Piper, I saw the hesitation in her eyes. Reaching down and grabbing her hand with my free one, I gave it a gentle squeeze as I brought it closer to the crystal. I let go a bit before the crystal though, Piper had to make this decision by herself.

_What if, What if..._

Looking at me, and then at the gentle pulsing of the rose coloured crystal, Piper smiled slightly as she put her hand over the one I had placed on the crystal.

What happened next was extraordinary.

Several beams of pink coloured light escaped from the crystal, all of them but one reflecting off of several hidden mirrors and crystals, the rose coloured energy mingled with the vibrant blue, and soon the cavern was enveloped with a purple haze. The beam that didn't hit the walls was attracted to Piper's Amp Stone, the beam seeming to be boring into the depths of the Stone. In a flash of pink light, the beam began to reflect off of Piper's Stone, instead of its energy being absorbed.

The reflected light formed a message on the wall, and then the beam disappeared along with all of the others, and receded into the core of the rose coloured crystal. The beams of energy were gone, but somehow the cavern remained lit with an eerie purple glow.

Looking at that the new message, I saw that it read:

_True love has be found,_

_But be forewarned,_

_It is not something to be ignored._

I blinked my eyes, reading over the words several more times before it finally sank in.

_Piper's my one true love, and I'm hers? How is she feeling about this right now? Wow, this is going to be so awkward..._

I turned to look at Piper, only to find her staring at the ground as though it was the most exciting thing in the world.

"Piper..." I began as I tilted her head up so that she could see me, but her eyes just avoided my eyes. "Come on Piper, look at me... I'm just as freaked out as you right now."

Piper quickly looked at me and then she threw herself into my arms, sobbing. I hugged her back, trying to figure out someway to calm her down some. I rested my head on hers as I held her in my embrace as we stood in the purple lit cavern, both not knowing what to say.

The silence was broken though as we heard familiar screams coming from outside of the cavern.

_Finn, Junko? Radarr?_

"This can't be good..." I heard Piper mumble.

**

* * *

**

Yes, I realize that it was painstakingly long, but did you all like the new instalment of my story?

**Alright, as promised, I will reveal the secret to the clue:**

_**Behind** **The** **Waterfall** is what you seek,_

_but **You** must come kind and meek._

_for only then **Will **you **Find** what it is that you seek._

_**The** mystery of centuries gone by,_

_**Secrets Revealed Of** a treasured mind._

_**Shapes** come together as one,_

_**Shifting** and falling into their place_

_all **In Centuries Gone By.**_

**So some of you picked up on this, others didn't. The reason why I said to think about it technically was because thats what it was, technical. I took certain words within the riddle, and capitalized the first letter of that word.  
So in the end, the clue inside the clue was:**

**Behind the waterfall you will find the secrets revealed of shapes shifting in centuries gone by.**

**I hope you all enjoyed the little puzzler, as I have another one for you! Well, not really. I will award a Cookie to the person who can come up wtih the best name for the Amazonian bird of prey I made up. Yellow crest on its head, Green body, and blue tipped feathers! Have fun being creative!**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. In honour of this chapter, I am taking the advice of my beta, and changing my fic to full blown Aerrow x Piper. No more, Possible romance, a little romance, or some romance! Now its just romance : P LOL I just thought I'd let you know...**


	14. Complications

**Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, and to everyone who keeps putting up with my sparradic updates! Also, as always, thanks go to Unleash The Shadow for editing my chapters!**

**Alrighty, sorry that I haven't updated in awhile, so I'm going to keep this short.**

**Congratulations go out to Crystal Lit Moon who receives a Cookie for coming up with the name for my Amazonian bird of prey. I loved all of your ideas, really I did, and it was tough to choose! So keep an eye out for the new name!**

**LOTS of POV switching in this installment, so as a heads up, this chapter starts out in Finn's POV**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps(Ho hum, old news this be!)**

**Kazzam! Chapter 13!!**

* * *

Chapter 13

_Complications_

I could only roll my eyes as Junko and Stork talked to Ayrgyn like he was some sort of royalty.

_I'm the domo here..._

I stood up and strolled over to the merry group before I demanded, "What are you doing here anyways Ayrgyn? If you're looking for Aerrow, he and Piper went out for some sort of recon."

"I know." Ayrgyn replied simply.

I stared at him dumbfounded. "You do?" I asked with surprise evident in my voice.

"It's not Aerrow or his squadron as a whole I'm here to see anyways."

"Huh?" I heard Junko say as he stared at me, I just shrugged my shoulders in return.

"So who are you here to see then?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.

_This guy must have finally figured out I'm the best there is!_

"I'm here to see Piper."

_Piper?! What does he want with boring old Piper?_

"Why do you need to see Piper...?" Stork asked, his eye beginning to twitch slightly.

"The path of self discovery awaits her and her... abilities."

_Abilities? Oh, he must be talking about her and her maps, crystals and stuff... It'll be great if she has to go away for her 'self discovery' or whatever, I'll be able to do whatever I want again!_

Grinning I said, "Well what are we waiting for, let's go find her!" Stork just looked at me like I had mindworms.

My grin soon turned into a frown when I noticed that no one else was happy, they just all had this serious look on their faces.

"What?" I asked as innocently as I could.

"The path of self discovery isn't one you can just throw someone on Finn. They have to find it themselves." Ayrgyn said simply as he turned to look out the window in the direction of Amazonia.

_At least I think he's looking at Amazonia... I've never really been good with the geography of the terras..._

"Well what do we do?" I asked, desperate to find a way to get rid of Piper sooner.

"_We_ do nothing. I've already given her a map."

"What does a map mean in this code of yours?" I said, continuing to ask questions, Ayrgyn's riddles beginning to get on my nerves.

"I meant what I said; I gave her an old map of the terra from over a century ago."

"So now she's following some path of discovery from over a hundred years ago?" Stork asked, the twitch in his eye growing more and more. "Yup, she is doomed. A slow and painful death will be the end of her."

Rolling my eyes I continued in my quest for answers. "But if its _Piper's_ path of discovery, then why did she take Aerrow with her?"

"All shall be revealed in good time." Ayrgyn said in quite a monotone voice as he continued to stare out of the picturesque windows on the Condor's bridge.

"Too bad I'm extremely impatient! I have things to do, places to go, things to see!"

Sighing Ayrgyn turned away from the window and said, "If you must, follow me then."

"Yes!" I cried as Radarr jumped on my shoulder, and Junko following me and the shape changer down to the hangar bay of our carrier.

"I'll just stay here on the Condor if you don't mind..." I heard Stork yell after us before the door to the bridge closed, and I couldn't hear him anymore.

Later, Junko and I were piloting our skimmers towards the terra of Amazonia as Ayrgyn flew ahead, now a bird, showing us the way to go.

"So what abilities of Piper's do you think he was talking about?" Junko asked as he flew up next to me, the tips of our skimmer's wings almost touching.

"Oh probably just something to do with her maps and crystals, you know everyday stuff." I replied, Junko nodding his head in agreement.

_At least I'm pretty sure she can't do much more besides that and her Sky Fu._

"Ya, you're probably right Finn." Junko told me as we flew over the treetops of the Amazonian jungle below.

Turning my attention back to the skies, I realized that we were now headed on a collision course with a group of Cyclonain Talons.

"I think we may have a problem!" I yelled as we began to circle our skimmers over top of a large waterfall.

"Storm Hawks!" The Talon captain yelled in anger, although you could see the confusion on his face.

The Cyclonain switchblades soon unleashed a volley of red bolts of energy, one of them clipping my engine.

_I didn't get sliced in half! Oh ya!_

"Oh man!" I cried as I shot downwards toward the tree canopy, my engines sputtering.

_I didn't get sliced in half... but this could end up a bit worse..._

"AH!" I screamed as my skimmer crashed through the trees at the base of the waterfall.

* * *

Aerrow's POV

The screams of our squad mates reverberated throughout the cavern, almost like the cavern amplified the weak echoes of their cries for help.

_What is going on out there?_

Looking down at Piper who was still in my arms I realized something.

_Piper can't fight with her leg injured! Oh man, this isn't good! I have a distraught Piper in my arms, and screaming teammates near the waterfall._

Sighing, I looked down into Piper's eyes before I said, "I've got to help them, but you should stay here where its safe."

"But I'm fine, really!" Piper exclaimed as she straightened up, breaking away from my embrace.

Pointing to her leg that was already shaking with exhaustion I said, "I don't think so."

"I can ignore it, its not that bad, really!" Piper said as she determinedly walked towards the entrance of the cavern.

I shook my head as I easily caught up to her and I rested my hand on her shoulder saying, "Please don't make me have to order you to stay here."

Her petite shoulders slumped as she mumbled, "Fine, but I'm coming out there if things still don't sound good."

"Everything will be fine, you'll see." I said as I pulled Piper into a quick hug, giving her a quick, small peck on the cheek before sprinting down the passageway. Smiling I ran outside, but my smile vanished as I was met with the sight of Finn's skimmer tangled in the tree tops, Junko's skimmer flying above smoking, and several Talons in the sky and on the ground.

I pulled my energy blades from my back with such agility and speed that only years of practice can accomplish. With an eerie green glow disguising the usual blue radiance of my weapons, I charged into the fringe of Talons that were starting to surround Finn.

_Well this should be fun..._

* * *

Piper's POV

_Did he, did Aerrow just…?_

My fingertips touched my cheek where Aerrow's lips had been just moments before.

_Wow._

Sitting down with my back resting against the stone that formed the walls of the mysterious cavern, I looked about the room before staring at my shoes while trying to sort out my thoughts.

_The Amp Stone, my history, my whole life seems to be shrouded in mystery, riddles, unknowns and what ifs. It's really starting to get confusing, especially with the Amp Stone activating itself all of the time now._

_I know now what has been making it glow, but I feel almost the need to deny it. _

_All these years I've been pushing my feelings for Aerrow aside, but now... now I don't know what to think._

Sighing, I looked around the room again, to see that it was no longer glowing purple, but back to the blue that was much like that of my Amp Stone.

_The purple is gone...?_

Thinking through the possibilities for this a few times, I realized something that I should have figured out a long time ago.

_Aerrow's my true love... who would have thought!_

* * *

Aerrow's POV

"Hold on blondie!" I yelled out, trying to avoid using any of my teammate's names.

_I know that Talons aren't very smart, but it still doesn't hurt to be careful though..._

The Talons apparently weren't the only ones that weren't very smart, Finn and Junko had proved this by not even bothering with a chroma or shielding crystal to disguise their identities.

Master Cyclonis would soon have a report saying that there were survivors of the Storm Hawks besides Piper.

Sighing, I knocked out several more Talons, either by scaring them off, using my hand to hand combat training, or sending shots of green energy at the unsuspecting henchmen of Cyclonia.

The only problem was that whenever I fired energy from my blades, the disguised energy would turn from green back to its usual bright blue.

_Again, Talons aren't the smartest people around, they'll just think its an effect of the crystal powering my weapons or something._

I was too busy protecting Finn from anymore advancing Cyclonian attacks that I failed to see or hear someone sneaking up behind me. That is, until it was too late.

"Dude! Watch out!" I heard Finn scream, just before a shot of red energy enveloped me, and my vision was edged with black. Falling to the ground, a moan escaped my lips as the blackness grew.

_Piper... I hope you're safe..._

I couldn't fight it anymore, the daylight was gone, and I was thrown into a black abyss.

* * *

Piper's POV

Still sitting on the ground, I was surprised when the blue glow of the cave intensified, almost immediately after my Amp Stone activated itself with more power than I had ever seen from it before.

_That isn't saying much... this Stone has only been active for the past week or so anyways._

I figured that something must have gone wrong outside, whether it was Finn and Junko in danger, myself, or worse yet, Aerrow was the one that was in danger, I wasn't sure.

Standing up, I grimaced as a shot of pain ricocheted up my leg. Wincing, I focused on shifting, rather than the pain of my injury.

_I'll live. I can deal with my wound later, but my teammates need me now. I can't use the Phoenix, I doubt it would be able to fit in that passageway, and I don't have time to limp all the way outside either, the Amp Stone could loose its charge by then._

I concentrated as hard as I could ever remember having to, racking my memory for something useful.

"I've got it!" I said quietly to myself.

Letting the cloud of blue energy surround me, I focused on my memory of the night in the alleyway when I was first told of my abilities.

Feeling the energy receding, I opened my eyes a crack, looking down to see that my hand, arm, all of me was now a deep, rich black, and that I was now covered in long fine fur.

Smiling what I could imagine would be a toothy smile filled with dangerous teeth; I bounded out of the cavern, running at full speed on all fours.

_But how can I be running? I thought I was injured..._

I shrugged it of as something weird about the Amp Stone. Also, as I was running, the blue light that had been illuminating the cavern and passageway followed me and soon everything behind me was back to its usual natural darkness.

_Whatever is going on about my leg, it doesn't matter, I need to make sure my friends are okay!_

* * *

Finn's POV

"Dude! Watch out!" I screamed as a bolt of red energy connected with one of my best friend's head. I couldn't even call out his real name with all of these Talons here. Besides, Junko and I had already blown our cover; we didn't need to blow Aerrow's too.

Shooting a few well aimed arrows into the mob of Talons, I tried to rush over to Aerrow's limp form, but Talons kept stopping me, and smirking until an arrow from my crossbow would connect with their stomachs.

I was almost there when the Talons began to run around everywhere and screaming.

_What in the Atmos is going on here?_

That's when I noticed it; a legendarily majestic Black Amazonian Panther had suddenly appeared, and it didn't look very happy.

_B-but... I thought that Black Amazonian Panthers were just a myth, something to scare little kids... like me!_

Now wasn't the time to be scared though.

_With the Talons distracted this should be simple..._

I dashed from tree to tree, desperately trying to get to Aerrow. But when I dashed behind a tree, and then came back out, Aerrow was gone, and no where to be seen.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I yelled out to no one in particular.

Looking around, I saw that most of the Talons had fled, but a few were still busy trying to outrun the large black cat.

_Could this day get any crazier? _

I continued to watch in awe at the sheer power and determination of the legendary panther, as it snarled, and scratched at anything that came near it.

When most of the Talons were gone, the panther pricked its ears up, as though searching for something. The Panther stood erect, with the fur on its back rising when it caught sight of a Cyclonian skimmer flying into the distance towards the talon outpost.

_That's such an easy shot! There aren't anymore Talons to stop me, clear shot and everything!_

I raised my cross bow, and once it was focused, I prepared to shoot, but something didn't seem right. Zooming in closer to my target, I realized that behind the Talon was none other than an unconscious Aerrow.

_Man! They took Aerrow? But how do they even know its Aerrow? He's disguised!_

Going after them would have been my first and only choice I would have taken; that is, if my skimmer had not been tangled in the branches of a tree.

Groaning, I kicked the ground with my foot, only to hear a very aggravated snarl come from the panther that somehow had walked up to me without being noticed while I was staring after Aerrow.

I saw the annoyed look on its face as it shook off the dirt that I had kicked in its face.

Backing up slowly I whimpered, "Nice kitty..." The panther continued to glare at me, until with a loud growl, it dashed of into the jungle.

I sighed with relief, the panther was gone, and I could see Junko's skimmer coming in low for a landing. But the relief was definitely hollow. My friend had just been captured, _again._

* * *

Piper's POV

As much as I would have liked to have seen Finn's reaction if I had changed back to my normal form in front of him, I decided against it.

_The fewer people who know about my ability the better._

I slowed down from a run, to a trot, to a walk. I slowly turned around, cautious of everything around me. It wouldn't do for one of my teammates or a Talon to walk by and see me shift back.

Just when I thought the coast was clear, I heard a voice say from above me, "Now what is a Black Amazonian Panther doing out here by its lonesome? I thought they had disappeared completely over ten years ago."

Looking up, I saw a Mynall bird look down at me with its large yellow eyes.

"Ayrgyn?" I asked, confused.

The colourful bird flapped its wings, and came to a graceful landing. With a flash of red-orange light, the bird changed from its form into that of Ayrgyn.

"The one and only!" he said in one of his many excited tones.

"What are you doing here, and how did you find me?"

"Well the reason I came here is to find _you _silly."

"Still, _how_ did you find me?"

Withdrawing his staff from his cloak, he shook it in front of his face, as if he was trying to taunt me or something.

"Right..." I said. I was beginning to get annoyed, but I tried not to show it, although it may have presented itself a little when I said, "And why exactly did you need to find me anyways...?"

"Well your crystal was activating a lot, and I wanted to make sure you were fine."

"Do I look fine?"

"Other than being a Black Amazonian Panther, ya I guess so."

Rolling my cat-like eyes I said, "Any other reasons?"

"Looking me over, Ayrgyn replied, "Well... I was also hoping to catch you in the act."

"In the act of what?"

"Well it is a very rare to know of a shape shifter and their abilities, much less see them actually shift..."

"So you wanted to see my shift shapes then?"

Ayrgyn nodded as he said, "Pretty much."

Sighing, I said, "I don't know if I should or not, the truth is I managed to hurt myself earlier."

"How badly?" Ayrgyn asked as a hint of concern showed in his eyes as he looked down at me.

"I got hit by a blast from a Talon's switchblade. Aerrow had to give me a piggyback for a while."

"Oh, well speaking of the lad, where is your Sky Knight?"

Looking at the ground in front of my black paws I mumbled, "Gone."

"What?!"

"A Talon flew off with him; I guess they knocked him out somehow. I didn't see though, by the time I got there, he was already out of it."

"Well, maybe one of your squad mates would know?"

"Maybe."

"Well come on then, let's go and talk to them." Ayrgyn said as he briskly turned around and started to walk in the direction of the waterfall.

"_You_ can talk to them," I began, not following Ayrgyn. "I can't; Panthers don't speak. Besides, I think they'll be scared if you show up with a feared animal in tow."

Stopping, Ayrgyn turned around and said, "Shift into a bird of some sort, but not your primary shape shift; I think a Phoenix would be considered a feared, feathered animal."

I just looked at Ayrgyn like he was crazy.

"But how?" I protested. "I thought I could only shift from a human to an animal and back."

"I was hoping that you could walk the path of discovery by yourself at your own pace, but I think that the world has become too fast paced, and it keeps shoving more and more responsibility in your face." I could just stare as Ayrgyn continued, "I was hoping that in time you would figure things out by yourself, just as the tradition from your terra says... but I guess it was not meant to be huh?"

Kneeling down so that he was at my level and could look into my eyes Ayrgyn said, "The truth is there is a lot more to your abilities than you or I know. Just like I knew that you can change from whatever shape to another without turning back into a human and you didn't. The Amp Stone is a very mysterious and rare crystal and must be treated as such; with respect, honour, and most importantly, curiosity."

I backed up from the odd man in front of me that had been staring me down for the past minute or so.

Ayrgyn backed up himself, and after a moment or so of silence, he quickly changed from his human form to that of the colourful Mynall bird. "Just focus, and meet me at the waterfall." Ayrgyn said as he slowly began to flap his wings.

I nodded, and as Ayrgyn flew off, I began to concentrate.

Feeling the now semi-familiar rush of energy coming from my Amp Stone, I once again turned into the famous Amazonian bird of prey, the great Alarian Hawk.

_Wow, I actually did it... but what else don't I know about this crystal? _

Putting my thoughts aside for the time being, I flapped my green wings with blue tips until I was flying above the tree tops. Reaching the waterfall within minutes, I landed gracefully next to Ayrgyn who had changed back to a human, and the rest of my teammates, Finn, Junko and Radarr. The only people missing were Stork, who had probably stayed behind to 'guard' the Condor, and Aerrow.

_Aerrow..._

* * *

Finn's POV

"AH! What is that thing?!" I screamed as a giant green bird with blue tipped feathers on its wings, and a bright neon yellow crest on its head landed a few feet away from us.

"That, Mr. Cocky, is an Amazonian bird of prey, more generally known as an Alarian Hawk."

"Oh..." I began before I added, "I am _not_ cocky!"

"Mhmm..." Ayrgyn murmured as he walked over to the bird and appeared to be talking to it.

_What is he doing?_

Walking back over to Junko, Radarr, and I after a few moments of talking with the bird, he said simply, "Junko, you and Radarr take your skimmer and go back to the terra and land on the Condor. I'm going to stay here for awhile trying to get Finn's skimmer out of that tree."

I laughed nervously, embarrassed that I had wrecked my skimmer once again, but then I realized that Ayrgyn had left my name out of the instructions. "What about me?" I complained to the famous warrior trainer.

Ayrgyn pointed towards the green, blue, and yellow bird saying, "That's your ride back to the Condor."

"You're kidding me right?" I asked Ayrgyn, thinking he was joking. When I saw that a smile eluded his face I whined, "But it's a bird of _prey!_ What if it eats me? What would the people of Vapos do without their domo?"

Looking at me from over his shoulder, Ayrgyn called out, "I'm sure they would survive, but I know that bird, she won't hurt you!" Ayrgyn continued to walk into the jungle, in the general direction of the tree that held my skimmer captive.

_She?_

* * *

Piper's POV

After a lot of screaming and squirming from Finn, I finally landed on the runway of the Condor. As soon as Finn had slid off of my back, I turned around and launched myself off of the Condor. I was determined to head back to the now Cyclonian infested terra that used to be my home so many years ago.

_Mom would be so crushed to see Amazonia controlled by the Cyclonian Empire. Once I rescue Aerrow, the first thing on my list is to free this terra. I know no people other than the Talons live here now, but the liberation of my home terra more or less will be in memory of my parents, and the legacy of the Amp Stone that was born here._

With thoughts still running through my head, I landed on the edge of the terra where I had landed with Aerrow a few hours ago.

_Aerrow..._

I had never noticed it until now, but a part of me almost seemed empty without him by my side.

Sighing, I looked around to see if anyone close by, or watching. Confident that no one would see me I cleared my mind of all my thoughts, and let my concentration slip completely.

I gasped as the light blue cloud enveloped my body before receding back into the depths of my Amp Stone. I fell to the ground, feeling slightly winded. After a few deep breaths, I managed to stand on my own two feet, but not before an intense wave of pain washed over my lower right leg, causing my legs to buckle, and for me to find myself back on the ground of the Amazonian terra.

_That's the other reason I didn't want to shift to normal back there with Ayrgyn, I knew the pain would come back. Ayrgyn said there were a lot of things that even he didn't know about the Amp Stone. Maybe one of them is that it helps you ignore pain while you shift into a shape other than your own, or maybe it makes the wound disappear for the time being, but then it comes back with a vengeance... _

_I'll never be able to figure this thing out..._

After a few more moments of sitting on the ground trying to get my energy to return, I stood up and stubbornly and made my way over to where Aerrow and I had hidden his skimmer. The trek of only a few feet seemed painstakingly slow, although I eventually made it.

I couldn't help but smile as I saw the familiar hawk emblem placed on a red background. The only thing missing was the redhead that usually accompanied the ride.

Once again sighing, I slowly rolled the skimmer out of its hiding spot. Gingerly getting on Aerrow's ride, I couldn't help but feel that Aerrow should be the one piloting it, and not me.

_Well it's not like I'm going to just let it sit here and get taken by Cyclonians. _

I revved the engine, and took off into the skies towards the Condor where everyone would be waiting; everyone but Aerrow that is...

_Aerrow..._

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Yes, I know I'm evil.. but I figured that out a while ago! (You can almost see the evil plot bunnies trying to invade my story... and that they will be... when... I'm not all that sure ;P)

**Ok, so I have a surprise in mind for you all that's in the works, and wether it has to do with this story or not, I can't say. **

**What I want to know is wether you all want a Cyclonian chapter next, or a Storm Hawks chapter next, let me know in your reviews!! (I accept annonymous reviews as well, so don't be shy!) So until you all vote, I'll continue to work on your surprise!**

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. I'm again sorry about the long wait! I actually had this done and ready to go earlier today, but then I had to go somewhere and didn't get back till now... so... ya. Anyways, sorry again, and I hope you all enjoyed the new chapter!**

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	15. A Caged Renegade

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Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, editing, and helping out with this story! You are all great!

**Alright, I am sad to say that this must be one of my shortest chapters yet... but the good news is that I know where I'm going from here for the next couple of chapters, and then... well... I'm afraid that after another 2 or a bit more chapters... and that might be the end of this fic... :(**

**Well anyways... There were a lot of people who wanted a Cyclonian chapter, and a handful wanted a Storm Hawks chapter, but unfortunately I couldn't just do a two in one chapter... I kind of decided after the first Cyclonian chapter that I wanted to keep the Storm Hawk POVs and the Cyclonis POV seperate, therefore the seperate chapters... XD Well enough of me talking about nothing, just read the story already!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps (Zzz...)**

**On to a very short, chapter 14!**

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Chapter 14

_A Caged Renegade_

Hearing the heavy doors of my throne room creak open, I stood from my throne, and waited for some bumbling Talon to enter.

"Speak." I said in a calm, unfeeling voice as a Talon finally found his way into the room.

"M- Master, the renegade, he h-has been f-found." The Talon's shaking knees could almost be heard as he stuttered out the news.

"Good." Looking the Talon over I asked, "Anything else?"

"Umm, well y-you s-see..."

"Spit it out before I find _other _less _desirable _ways for you to serve under the Cyclonian Empire." I spat.

_Won't these Talons ever just show some courage? _

Sighing I asked, "Does the Dark Ace know about what you are trying to tell me?"

The Talon replied with a nod and a whimper.

"Very well, fetch him and I will overlook your incompetence." The Talon began to nod continuously as he bowed before dashing out of the room.

_I don't think I should call them Talons anymore, maybe I should call them...mice. They have about as much courage as mice._

Only moments after I sent the Talon in search of the Dark Ace, who else would saunter in but he himself, the Dark Ace.

Bowing with his hand pressed to his chest, he asked, "You called for me?"

"Yes, you seem to be the only one around here who can give me a decent report of what is happening." I said drumming my fingers on the armrest of my throne. Once the Talon left, I had decided to sit back down.

"Very well," The Dark Ace began, "What is it that you wish to know master?"

"Everything you know in regards to this renegade that our forces managed to capture a couple of hours ago."

"According to their official reports, they caught him on the terra of Amazonia where one of our new bases of operation is."

"And...?" I asked as the Dark Ace just looked at me, seemingly a little confused at my open ended question.

"And what else do you desire to know Master?"

"You and your men before said that you believed that this renegade helped Piper escape, no?"

"That is correct."

"Did any of the Talons under your command see Piper with him when they caught him?"

"No, but they didn't so much catch him as knock him out."

"Meaning...?" I was getting really tired of the Dark Ace forgetting all of the details, and not cutting to the chase with out me prodding him.

"There was a fight between my Talons and umm... well, two Storm Hawks when the renegade showed up." The Dark Ace said the last half of the sentence quickly, obviously eager to get that fact out in the open, hoping not to suffer my wrath.

"WHAT!" I yelled as I stood up abruptly from my throne. "How could they have been fighting against two _Storm Hawks_!?" I continued, with venom dripping from my words.

"I assure you master, the reports must be wrong. I threw those Storm Hawk brats over the terra's edge and into the wasteland over a week ago. They couldn't possibly have survived. The Storm Hawks are no more."

"You are dismissed, and for your sake, you had better hope that the Storm Hawks really are gone!"

Nodding his head at my words, the Dark Ace quickly tried to exit the room, but before he left I added, "And bring the renegade to me once he wakes up, I have many questions for that _hooligan!_"

"Of course Master." The Dark Ace quickly said as he exited through the large double doors that slammed behind him.

_Well, this sounds interesting, and if it doesn't turn out so, I'll just have to find my own way to make this predicament amusing._

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Dun dun duh... Cyclonis and her twisted evil plans... yeesh. When will she quit?

**Sorry if that wasn't as good as you wanted it to be, but I promise that the next chapter will be longer!**

**Crimson Fox4**


	16. Behind Enemy Lines

**Thanks goes out to all of my awesome amazing reviewers, and to Unleash The Shadow and SakariWolfe for encouraging me to typefaster and giving their input on this chapter.**

**Alright, here is chapter 15! (finally) I'm getting better though... this chapter is only being posted 4 days after my last post. Usually I only post once on the weekend... XD**

**Ok, So I noticed that I've done everyone's POV in this story except for Stork and Radarr, so there is a Stork POV in here somewhere... and I added in another Junko POV cause' the one that I gave him awhile ago was all of what, a couple paragraphs?**

**Anyways, this chapter starts in Finn's POV and thanks also goes out to SilverStella, I used the idea you suggested in your review of chapter 14 XD I hope you like it!**

**Now, enough of my babbling, go and read!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, They are the property of Nerd Corps (Really? Who would've thunk...)**

**Yay! Chapter 15 everyone!**

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Chapter 15

_Behind Enemy Lines_

"Can you guys believe that I actually rode an Alarian Hawk? I mean, it's like one of _the _Alarian Hawks!" I said excitedly as soon as Junko, Radarr and I were on the bridge with Stork.

"You did what?!" Stork screamed as he backed away from me.

"Chill, it's just a bird!"

_Seriously, when is he ever _not_ going to be paranoid about EVERYTHING!_

"It's a bird of prey Finn! It could have eaten you; it probably has a million diseases which it most likely gave to you, and in turn will you will give them to me, and don't you know that they are supposed be extremely rare? Who says it wasn't just some evil concoction that Cyclonis whipped up to be able to track us? And – What – if…." Stork was beginning to hyper ventilate from his doom ramblings, and I wasn't quite sure what to do. I mean usually Aerrow and Piper were the ones to calm Stork down.

_Hey, where did Piper get to? I mean she was with Aerrow, wasn't she? Did she get captured? Are they both stuck in a Cyclonian cell? I hate to admit it, but without Piper and Aerrow, we might just be... doomed._

_Oh Man! Now I sound like Stork!_

Not wanting to succumb to the weird doom oriented thoughts floating in my mind, I asked Junko and Stork, who had surprisingly managed to calm down, "Um, guys? Where's Piper?"

Stork's eyes began to bug out, but I wasn't sure if it was because of my question about Piper, or the fact that the alarms were now blaring.

As Stork pulled down a periscope, I covered my ears and yelled, "Can't you turn those things off!"

Looking away from the scope just long enough to glare at me Stork yelled back, "The alarms are here for good reason! Besides they keep us from doom, or at least they announce when we are doomed!"

Rolling my eyes, I tried to look out the windows of the bridge to see if I could find out for myself what was making the alarms go off.

"Did you find anything yet?" Junko asked Stork.

"Un-uh, wait a second, I got something, its- Aerrow's skimmer?"

We all exchanged glances.

"How…"

"Can…"

"That be?" We all took turns as we tried to convey the question in the back of our minds,

_How can Aerrow's skimmer be coming back, didn't he get caught?_

Not waiting for anyone to say anything else, I was racing towards the hangar bay like a streak.

* * *

Piper's POV

After about ten minutes of flying, I had flown through Stork's holographic force field and had come to a rough landing on the runway of the Condor. I wasn't exactly used to the controls of Aerrow's skimmer, let alone anyone else's except for the controls of my heliscooter.

"Aerr-ow?" I heard Finn call out confusedly as I pulled into the hangar and turned off the engines of the blue, red and silver skimmer.

Looking at Finn I said, "Sorry, no Aerrow."

"Oh." Junko said sadly as he walked up next to Finn. "Well at least we have you back, right?"

"Ya." I mumbled as I stared at the floor of the hangar bay, the gears in my mind almost coming to a complete halt. I had been trying to think up a rescue plan on the way back to the Condor, but my mind had always wandered back to Aerrow.

_Aerrow..._

"Aren't you getting off?" Finn's impatient voice asked. "I really want to tell you about my ride on one of the rare Alarian Hawks, you would have been jealous Piper!"

If it hadn't been for the pain that was emanating from deep in my leg, I swear, I would have strangled Finn.

_I have half a mind to change into something right now to wipe that smug look off of his face. Besides, why would I be jealous? I wasn't the one that had needed a ride in the first place. He only got a lift back courtesy of me because he got his skimmer stuck in a tree. _

_At times, I seriously think that Finn does stuff like that on purpose._

"Hellooo!!" Finn said waving a hand in front of my face. "You getting off or what? I'm sure that Stork and Junko need to have a look over the skimmer to make sure it isn't damaged or anything."

At the mention of his name, Stork popped out of the doorway, with a gas mask on his face.

"Stork, what in the Atmos are you doing?" I asked as Stork inched into the room.

"I nweeded mrumph seph if you haf mrumph any dimrumph." Stork tried to reply, but the mask was sure making it hard to understand him.

"Stork, I can't hear you with that mask on!"

Grumbling, Stork raised the mask off of his face a little before saying, "I said; I need to see if you had contracted any diseases. I mean you were on Amazonia all day, for all I know you could have bog fever! And now I probably have it too, thanks a lot!"

As Stork finished talking, he ripped the headgear off of his head and threw it back into some random crate that was near the wall.

"Now," Stork began. "Get off the skimmer so that I can fix it."

Hesitantly I replied, "Sure..." as I gingerly got off of the skimmer, trying not to show that I had hurt myself. The last thing I wanted the guys to do was to worry about my little wound instead of helping me figure out a way to rescue Aerrow.

"Ah!" Stork screeched as he inspected the skimmer.

"What now?" Finn whined.

"There's blood all over right side! What did you do to this machine Piper?!"

"Um, nothing?" I said trying to act innocent.

"You must have done something to it!" Stork said, still ranting. Taking out a cloth out of his pocket and swiping across the red marks Stork complained, "That's definitely blood Piper. What. Did. You. DO!"

"Well, you see... um..." Out of habit I started to play with my crystal that was hanging around my neck as I tried to figure out how to explain the blood.

"Hey look!" Junko exclaimed as he pointed to the floor of the hangar bay. "There's more blood on the floor too!"

"And lookie here, it leads right to Piper's foot!" Finn added, looking very proud of himself and the clue he had just found.

"Piper!" Stork yelled at me, getting up from the floor near the skimmer just to point a finger at my face. "I'm going to have to disinfect this whole hangar soon! Now tell me what happened!"

"Well, you see..." I began, still not sure of how to explain myself.

"Out with it already!" Finn said impatiently, Junko nodding at his friend's words.

"I hurt myself okay? Or rather, I guess it was the Talon that hurt me, but it doesn't matter."

"It does matter if you hurt yourself Piper! Your wound could get infected among other things!" Stork once again screamed in my face.

"Weren't you going to tell us?" Junko asked with big eyes.

"Eventually..." I said before adding, "I just didn't want to worry you guys just because I got hurt. I mean we should be trying to figure out a way to save Aerrow, not just standing around here."

As I turned to leave, I could feel myself tense as Finn put a hand on my shoulder.

_It was bad enough that I had to fly him back here..._

"We all want to rescue Aerrow too Piper, but come on, it looks like a nasty battle wound, just let Stork check it out?" I couldn't help but look at Finn with a stunned expression once he was done talking. It seemed like one of those rare moments where Finn actually cared and made sense was upon us.

"I don't know... it's really not that bad you know." I said, still against them making such a fuss over me when there were other things to be done.

"Have you even looked at it Piper? It's turning green for goodness sakes!"

"It's WHAT?!" I cried as I twisted myself around until I could see the back of my right calf. The wound sure wasn't green, but I could see traces of white puss, and the edges were turning black and blue from bruising.

"Oh man!" Finn yelled as he doubled over laughing. "I can't believe you fell for that!"

_So much for a civil Finn..._

Sighing I mumbled, "Fine. Let's go to the medical room and just bandage it or something."

A few moments later, I was sitting on a bed that was in the middle of a small room that was off to the one side of the bridge. The counter and cupboards that ran around the outside walls of the room were a starch white along with the sheets that covered the bed. I was surprised that someone hadn't painted the entire room white.

Rummaging through the cupboards, I saw Stork pull out bottle after bottle of one liquid, cream or another. I was beginning to get worried.

_Ya it hurts and looks ugly, but is there something really wrong with it that Stork needs ALL of that stuff?_

I continued to look at the merb with something close to anxiety until I remembered something.

_Stork's totally paranoid; maybe he just _thinks_ that he needs all of that stuff... ya that must be it. Just normal everyday paranoid Stork._

I grimaced when I saw Stork began to mix several of the liquids and creams into a bowl.

_Or not._

Turning around to face me Stork said, "This cream will only deal with 155 of the infections you may have caught out of the possible 187 if you take the warm climate of Amazonia into account."

"Umm, thanks?" I said as Stork slathered his concoction onto my wound before wrapping a bandage over it all.

I winced a little as Stork's 'remedy' began to attack whatever was inside of my wound besides my own flesh.

As I began to follow Stork out the door to the bridge I heard him say, "I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the 32 it doesn't cure..."

I rolled my eyes as I limped towards the meeting table.

Finally making it, I eased myself into a seat and asked Finn to grab me a few charts that I needed.

"But why do _I _have to get them?" He whined. "Can't Junko get them?"

"Finn! Just go get them and stop complaining for once!" Finn just stared at me as I continued to yell at him. "We're trying to figure out how to save Aerrow, remember? Now go get the charts!"

Finn blinked before he scowled at me as he walked to the other side of the bridge to grab the charts I needed.

"You owe me..." I faintly heard Finn mumble as he walked away.

* * *

Stork's POV

_32 diseases that she could get sick and die from! 32 diseases that she pass onto me! I bet I could list 32 reasons why that wound is bad news!_

_1. Piper could get sick_

_2. Piper could die_

_3. Piper could spread the disease_

_4. Piper could contaminate me!_

_5. We could have to amputate her leg_

_6. She could very well pass out from blood loss_

_7. Blood loss means that there isn't as much blood going through her body_

_8. Not as much blood flowing through her body means muscle fatigue_

_9. Muscle fatigue means that parts of her could randomly give out on her, like her leg muscles_

_10. Wait a second, isn't the heart a muscle?!_

_11. She could die! Oh wait, I already said that... ok, um... she could get a fever!_

_12. She could get sick!_

_13. I don't cope well with head colds..._

_14. Head Colds make my rash worse_

_15. My rash makes my attitude worse_

_16. I don't fancy vomiting coming from me or others either..._

_17. The sight or sound of vomiting makes me hurl myself_

_18. I turn blue when I vomit._

_19. I hate the colour blue!_

_20. One of the 32 diseases that she isn't protected against is mindworms..._

_21. I absolutely detest mindworms!_

_22. If Piper gets mindworms, we have absolutely no chance of rescuing Aerrow!_

_23. With out Aerrow, there's no one to control Finn!_

_24. Or Junko!_

_25. Or Radarr!_

_26. There'd be chaos_

_27. There'd be disaster!_

_28. There'd be disorganization!_

_29. There'd be no cleanliness!_

_30. There'd be no order!_

_31. There'd be no rules!_

_32. We'd be doomed! We _**are**_ DOOMED!_

* * *

Piper's POV

As I waited for Finn to come back with the maps and charts that I needed, I couldn't help but wonder what was going through Stork's mind at the moment. I mean, his eyes were darting all over the place, and were twitching. He was all tense, and it sounded like he was having issues breathing.

_Its probably him being paranoid about my leg again. Yeesh, we've wasted so much time. Who knows what Master Cyclonis has in mind for Aerrow, and does she know that it's really Aerrow? I hope she doesn't._

"Here." Finn said grumpily as he flung the rolled up charts in my direction, while he flopped down into a chair.

I glared as Finn for a minute before I unrolled a few charts. After looking them over for a few moments, a plan finally began to formulate in my mind.

Smiling I said, "Okay guys, I think I've got it."

"And what's that?" Finn muttered, "Another head?"

"Huh?" Junko said from beside Finn.

"Now isn't the time for wisecracks Finn!" I said as I glared at him.

"Then what time is it?" He asked smirking.

"Time to for you to be quiet for once Finn!" Finn just gave me another blank stare while Junko kept looking between me and Finn, as though he was beginning to get confused.

"Okay, so my plan is pretty simple. I'm going to refine my invisi crystals as much as possible, and then we throw those and an enhancer crystal into the crystal converter for the shields of the ship. That way we can get into Cyclonian territory with out getting noticed."

"We're going into Cyclonian territory?" Stork asked, his eye beginning to twitch even more.

"Well that's where Aerrow is, so that's where we're going, no questions asked."

I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard Stork mumble, "Yep, definitely number 32, we're doomed."

I wasn't sure what it meant, but I shook it off. Who says I even heard him right, besides we wouldn't be doomed if we did this right.

_Stork always thinks we're doomed anyways._

"So we have a way of getting into Cyclonian territory, but how do we rescue Aerrow?" Junko asked, putting a finger to his mouth in an almost thoughtful pose.

"Well, you and Finn are going to be using invisi crystals in your skimmers, and for yourselves. What I want you two to do is make your way to the throne room undetected, and then to stay there cloaked until I need back up." I said as I slammed my fist onto the table, making Stork and Radarr jump.

Radarr began to make squawking and screeching noises at me. I wasn't really sure if it was because I had startled him, or because I hadn't given him an assignment yet.

"Radarr, you're going to be going with Finn and Junko." I said looking at Aerrow's co-pilot.

Radarr nodded and made a noise of agreement before Stork asked, "And what am I supposed to do while those three are in Cyclonia?"

"You're going to stay here on the Condor, just in case we need help at all okay? You're sort of just going to be our back up."

Smiling at his role in the plan I had just given him Stork said, "I don't have to step foot on that dreaded terra?"

"Nope."

Sighing Stork said almost optimistically, "Maybe I'm not doomed after all..."

Rolling his eyes, Finn asked, "What about you? What are you doing in this plan that's so important?"

_Sometimes I just want to whack him on the head..._

Keeping my temper under control I replied, "I'm going to go with you guys, using invisi crystals like you, but once we reach the terra I'm going to be disguised as a Talon."

"Why?" Finn asked.

One of my hands flew to my forehead. Sighing I said, "Finn I'm going to be a Talon so that I can go and look for Aerrow in the dungeons."

"Well why don't we all go and look in the dungeons?" Finn continued to inquire.

"Finn, I have a feeling that if Aerrow isn't in the dungeons he will be in the throne room. No doubt Master Cyclonis is mad at him for helping me escape."

"Does she even know its Aerrow?" Junko interjected.

"I sure hope not." I said regretfully as I looked over the charts once more.

Gathering up the charts, I stood from my chair and slowly limped towards where I stored all of my maps and charts.

Noticing my limping gait Finn asked, "And how exactly are you supposed to search for Aerrow when you can hardly walk? "

Stiffening at Finn's comment I hissed through my teeth, "I'll manage."

"But it'd be so much simpler-" Finn began again before I cut him off.

"Finn!" Just follow one of my plans without questions for once, okay!?"

I stormed off of the bridge and towards my lab as fast as my injured leg would allow.

As I passed through the door and into the hallway I thought I heard Finn's voice say, "What's her problem?"

Rolling my eyes, I continued to walk towards the lab to get to work on the crystals that we would need for our plan to rescue Aerrow.

* * *

Junko's POV

A bit after Piper left the bridge to go to her room, I went into the hangar to make sure the skimmers were in working order. Mine was fine, and since Stork doesn't let me go near the Storkmobile, I just skipped it.

_Stork probably won't need the Storkmobile anyways._

Next I moved onto Piper's heliscooter. She hadn't really ridden it for a week or so, so it was still in good working order and topped up with plenty of fuel crystals.

Aerrow's was pretty good too. I put some fuel into it, and I noticed that the blood from Piper's leg was mostly gone thanks to Stork's crazy need for disinfection and cleanliness.

There was something weird about the left over blood though, it almost seemed to have a hint of blue to it.

Realizing that that wasn't possible, I shook my head and continued looking over the skimmer.

_I know that Aerrow isn't exactly here to ride his skimmer, but maybe Radarr will fly it or something. I guess you never really know._

I was about to head back to the bridge to see what Finn and Stork were doing when I saw that Finn's skimmer had mysteriously shown up.

"Huh?" I mumbled to myself, as I walked towards the skimmer.

_I thought that Finn had crashed it into a tree... it doesn't even have a scratch!_

Looking over the skimmer I quickly found a note attached to the seat of the skimmer, along with a spiny spud.

_What's with the spiny spud?_

Looking over the note I found that it read:

_

* * *

_

Well, I managed to get the skimmer out of the tree, make sure to be more careful with it next time! Unfortunately I can not join you on your trek to get your commanding officer back as I suspect you must be planning even know. Well, I fulfilled the purpose of why I came; Piper is on her path to self discovery, so I must now take my leave. But do not worry; I will be back when the time is right –

_Ayrgyn_

_PS. Leave the spiny spud on the seat will you? It's my parting gift for that cocky wingman and his behind._

* * *

I had to laugh a bit at Ayrgyn's sense of humour with the spiny spud. Finn was my friend, but it sure would be funny if he sat down on that spiny spud...

Once again I was about to head for the bridge when Piper walked, or rather limped into the hangar with a crate full of something.

_Maybe Finn is right for once; maybe it would be best for someone other than Piper to search the dungeons for Aerrow._

"I'm glad I found you Junko!" Piper said as she set the crate down on another larger one. "I have the invisi crystals and the enhancer crystal ready."

"That's great Piper!" I exclaimed as I walked over to her.

"Would you mind taking the crate to the bridge and get Stork to put them in the shield converter? I want to leave for Cyclonia as soon as possible."

"Sure." I replied happily as I easily picked up the crate Piper had been struggling with before.

Looking at Piper for a minute I asked quietly, "Are you sure you want to be the one to go search for Aerrow, I mean-"

"I'll be fine Junko, really. I can handle it." Piper said while trying to give me a reassuring smile.

Piper had never been very good at hiding things, but then again Aerrow was always the one who could get her to reveal what she was hiding.

Sighing as I walked to the door I said, "If you change your mind, just let me know, okay?"

* * *

Piper's POV

"Sure!" I called out to the Wallop's back just before the door closed behind him. "But I won't have to." I mumbled as I stood in the hangar for a moment before heading back to my room.

The trip that should have taken me couple of minutes at tops took five before I reached my lab.

I let a sigh escape my lips as I sat down on a stool that was close to my desk.

_I have to figure out a way to be able to infiltrate Cyclonia as a Talon. It normally wouldn't be too hard, but with this limp..._

I winced as another shot of pained made itself known. The pain was dulling a bit, but it was still quite sharp.

I continued to think; all the while I was playing with the crystal that hung around my neck.

"Well, prepare for take off everyone." Stork's voice came through the intercom. "And for doom..." I sighed at the antics of the merb.

Looking around the lab as the Condor began to lift into the air; I saw my small crate of chroma crystals. And next to it was an even smaller crate where I had stored Aerrow's specially enhanced chroma crystals before I had put them into his shoes.

Getting up from the stool I was sitting on, I walked over to the larger crate and picked up a couple of the chroma crystals, along with all of the invisi crystals I had left.

_It takes about twenty minutes to get to Cyclonia from here, so if I leave for the hangar now, I should get there in time, but first I need to stop at my room._

Leaving my lab, I made my way down the hall towards my room. Once I got there, I looked around quickly until my eyes landed on what I was looking for.

Going over to my bed, I picked up my backpack that one of the guys must have thrown in here for me. Rummaging through it I found what I needed; my energy staff, and the white crystal that I had found in the drawer of my mom's desk.

I'm surprised that nothing in my backpack got wet, I mean I dove off of the top of a waterfall and almost drown, and the stuff in my backpack somehow stays dry? That is seriously weird.

_I should be used to stuff like this by now I guess. We've always run into weird stuff over the past two years as a squadron, why would I expect anything different from that? Besides, this crystal is adding a whole new type of weird into the mix._

Inspecting the white crystal more closely I saw that the note was still attached to it.

_If you find yourself faced with darkness,_

_With this you may find the light in which you seek._

I still wasn't sure what the note meant or what the crystal did, but I considered Cyclonia a dark place, so maybe it would come in handy. You never really know. I attached my staff to my belt, and then I put the chroma crystals, invisi crystals, and the white crystal into a pouch that was strapped to my waist.

I glanced around my room searching for anything that I may have missed, but finding nothing, I began to make the grueling journey to the hangar.

"Ten minutes until doom!" Stork's voice rang out through the speakers when I was about halfway to the hangar bay.

After another few minutes of limping, I finally made it to the hangar bay where Finn, Junko, and Radarr were already waiting, getting their rides ready.

Trying to mask my limp as much as possible, I walked up to them and was about to speak when again Stork's voice came over the intercom saying, "Doom dead ahead in five minutes!"

Rolling my eyes, I turned to the guys and handed each of them two invisi crystals, and one to Radarr.

Looking at me weird Finn said, "Two? Why do I need two invisi crystals?"

Shaking my head at his not so rare moment of stupidity I replied, "One for your skimmer, one for you."

"Oh." Finn said as he looked from the two crystals in his hands to the one in Radarr's paws before adding, "Why does Radarr have one then?"

"Isn't he riding with one of you guys?" I asked.

"Well, we were thinking that Radarr could fly Aerrow's skimmer, you know, until we rescue Aerrow and he can use it to get away himself." Junko said, giving a small laugh.

Sighing I said, "Sure, I guess that's a good idea."

I quickly handed Radarr a second crystal. Chirping with contentment, Radarr bounded over to the red, silver and blue skimmer.

The others and I followed Radarr's example and mounted our rides. I had just gotten on my heliscooter when I heard Finn yelp with pain.

Looking over towards him, I noticed that he was rubbing his backside with one hand while holding something in his other hand.

Squinting I asked, "Is that-"

"A spiny spud?" Finn finished for me. "Yes." He mumbled as he gingerly sat back down on his skimmer.

_A spiny spud? I wonder how that got there._

"Two minutes! I hope you are all writing your wills!" I just groaned at Stork's voice that came over the intercom.

_Could he be positive, just for a change? EVER?_

"Hey Piper, where's your Talon disguise?" Junko asked from his ride.

Looking down at my outfit, I realized that I hadn't activated either of my chroma crystals yet. But I noticed something else as well.

_My crystal is glowing? Well, I guess Stork did say that we were only minutes away from Cyclonia, but does that mean that we're in trouble, or Aerrow is? Or both?_

Sighing at my thoughts, I pulled out one of the chroma crystals, and I tried to activate it.

The weirdest thing happened though, the chroma crystal didn't activate, but my Amp Stone did. How did I know? Well the blue cloud that I saw swirling around me was a dead giveaway along with the feeling of energy coursing through my veins.

Just as quickly as it came, the cloud dissipated.

"Wow." I heard Junko say.

Opening my eyes, I noticed that I wasn't wearing my regular uniform anymore; it was that of a Cyclonian Talon! That wasn't the only thing that changed, no. My midnight blue locks had turned into slightly longer black ones, and looking into the windshield of my heliscooter, I noticed that my usually orange eyes were now a golden honey colour.

The body I was currently in wasn't my own either. It was more or less the body of an adult woman.

_Wow is right! Now I'm totally the pitting image of my mother! But like I would ever know, she isn't exactly around for me to compare myself to; whether I had just taken on her shape, or if I was just normal me._

"How did you do that Piper?" Finn asked in amazement.

"I just a specially enhanced chroma crystal." I replied quickly.

"But what was with the cloud?"

"Just an affect of the crystal."

"Oh." Finn said defeated. "I hoped it was something cooler than that, but hey, whatever."

"Ya, whatever." I mumbled as the hangar bay doors opened.

"Imminent doom, dead ahead!" Stork's voice echoed through the Hangar via the intercom, although his voice was lost amongst the revving of engines.

"You ready guys?" I called. When I received several nods I yelled, "Let's do it!"

Shooting down the runway of the invisible Condor we launched ourselves into the threatening skies that always surround Cyclonia.

Looking around, I couldn't see my squad mates unless I looked really, REALLY hard. That was a good sign, the invisi crystals were working.

After a couple minutes of flying we all landed our skimmers on one of the larger ledges that jutted out of the Cyclonian terra.

Deactivating my invisi crystal for a few moments I quickly said, "Remember you guys; sneak into the throne room, don't get caught, and stay cloaked and out of the way until I give you some sort of signal that I need help or until I come and find you once I've got Aerrow. Got it?" I finished as I reactivated my invisi crystal.

"Got it!"

"Chica Cha!"

"Squawk!"

Hearing positive answers come from my teammates I replied, "Good, now let's go save Aerrow!"

* * *

After a few tense minutes of scaling the last few meters up a cliff to the ground of the terra above, I sneaked to the entrance of one of the Cyclonian supply sheds.

Easily using my lock picking skills to gain entrance, I slipped in and once I was sure that no one else was there I deactivated my invisi crystal.

Looking down, I noticed that I was still dressed in a Talon outfit, but I was just missing the Goggles and head gear.

Scanning the poor excuse for a shed, I eventually found what I needed. Staring at my reflection in a broken piece of glass that was supposed to be called a window in this dilapidated shack, I saw that I actually looked like a Talon.

_Now there's a scary thought._

I quietly slipped out of the shed after finding a spare Cyclonian staff; I walked calmly to the main palace. Entering the door, I walked as casually as I could through the mazes of hallways especially when I crossed the paths of any other Talons. Thankfully, none of them noticed me and I was able to continue in my search.

_Well as surprised as I am, I have to admit Ayrgyn was right. There is a whole lot about this Stone I don't know about. I mean, who knew that I could take on the shapes of other people? _

It seemed kind of weird, but in this situation my abilities were a huge help. I mean, it was like a super disguise or something, and just like when I had shifted into the Black Amazonian Panther and the Alarian Hawk, my leg wasn't giving me any trouble.

I suppressed my urge to smile, as I knew that the Talons and Cyclonians in general would be sour about the news of two Storm Hawks still being alive. Or at least you'd think that the rumour had spread by now.

After maybe ten minutes of wandering, I finally found myself in the prison area. Walking along the hallway that had cells on either side, I looked into the shadows of each on carefully, looking for my Sky Knight and friend.

_Well I guess according to this Stone he's more than a friend, but that isn't important now. Speaking of which..._

Knowing that all Talons that I had seen didn't wear jewelry, I carefully tucked my necklace underneath the collar of the Talon outfit that I was wearing.

I thought that my heart was about to plummet when I realized that there were only two cells left to look in.

Cell number one was empty.

Cell number two was... not empty! Looking through the bars, I saw a familiar form dumped on a cot, limp.

_Aerrow?_

* * *

Aerrow's POV

I had been awake for awhile after they had dumped me in this cell, but I was taking a page out of Piper's book and was acting like I was still knocked out, and the Talons were none the wiser.

_Talons seriously aren't that smart!_

Hearing footsteps walking down the hallway and stop in front of my cell, I waited several tense moments until from the far corner from the prison area I heard a familiar evil voice yell, "Bring me the hooligan!"

_Uh oh, I guess that would be me..._

**

* * *

**

Have to admit, writing this chapter was pretty fun :D Even if I had to stay up until 2 in the morning to finish it... lets just say I didn't wake up until close to lunch today...

**How did you all like that chapter? I thought that it turned out well despite all of the POV changes...**

**Well I'm off to go and type more of 'What's the WORST that can happen' (For those of you who don't know, thats the other fic I have on the go right now) **

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. As much as I hate to say it, I think that my next chapter may be the last depending on how it turns out. At the most, I might have two more chapters after this one that you just read; Chapter 16, and then an epilogue(ish) Chapter. :( Don't worry though, I have an idea floating around in my head... but I'll tell you more next chapter(it will most likely include a poll...).**


	17. Hallucinations

**Hi everyone! I just wanted to say a quick thank you to:**

SakariWolfe  
Black-Wolf-Warrior  
Tuberculosis Queen  
Crystal Lit Moon  
DevilsAngelSaphire

**You were my only reviewers for my last chapter, and I just want to thank you! Also, A great big thanks goes to Unleash The Shadow for editing EVERY SINGLE chapter for me besides chapter one! You are all awesome amazing!**

**Alright everyone... I hat to tell you this, but this is the last _true_ chapter of this story. After this there is just the epilogue... /cries\ I hope you all enjoy and savour this chapter!**

**I do not own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps (I've only been saying this for how long, do you get the picture yet?)**

**Chapter 16! :( I'm so sad to see this end... (this starts in the Dark Ace's POV by the way, don't kill me if I get his character all wrong, this is my first time writing him!)**

* * *

Chapter 16

_Hallucinations _

"Bring me the hooligan!" I bellowed as I entered the prison area.

At the sound of my voice, all of the Talons scattered; maybe a few were trying to think of how to fulfill my order, but I knew the rest were most likely trying to find a good dark shadow to try and melt into.

My blood red eyes skimmed the prison cells as I walked down the narrow corridor between them all before I reached the last one where a Talon stood at attention. As soon as I looked to them they threw their arm up into a quick salute before staring straight ahead.

Looking them over, I tried to figure out how this Talon managed the courage to stand before me and not quiver in their shoes.

This Talon was wearing the exact same outfit as all of the others except this specific Talon seemed...how would you put it... different?

What surprised me most was that this Talon was actually a woman. It was rare to see any woman in the ranks of Cyclonia; whether they were serving as a Talon, or as high up the chain of command as Ravess, it was still a rare sight.

Finding my voice I said coolly, "I don't recall ever seeing you before."

"Probably not sir." The Talon replied quickly.

"In that case you must be a new recruit."

"Yes sir." The Talon replied tactfully.

I gave a curt nod in response to the Talon's words before asking, "Is the renegade up yet?"

"I haven't checked yet sir. We only received him an hour or so ago after all."

"True, but don't question my or the Master's orders."

"Yes Sir."

_Still no fear from this one; perhaps they would make a good edition to my forces rather than being here wasting their Talon career as a prison guard._

"Now, go in there and wake him up!" I shouted in her face.

"YES SIR!" She yelled back just as loud as I had before. The Talon went to the wall behind her and found the keys needed to open this hooligan's cell.

Finding the right key on the large ring, the Talon unlocked the door and hesitantly stepped inside. Moving to the cot that the prisoner laid on without a sound, I could see her face tighten and lips move to yell at the renegade before one of his feet came flying at her face.

I grimaced as I closed my eyes, waiting for the foot to collide with the newbie's head.

_These Talons never seem to learn, especially the new ones._

I reopened my eyes a split second later as I hadn't heard a cry or yell from the Talon.

You could imagine my surprise when it turns out that the Talon had ducked in time to avoid the blow, and was now in a fighting stance with their staff at the ready.

_Maybe I will add this Talon to my personal garrison after all._

I watched with a smirk on my face as the renegade sprang up from the cot he was on and using his powerless blades tried to strike at the Talon.

As the hooligan neared the Talon, she quickly sidestepped his anger filled charge and with a swift hit from her staff to the backs of his knees, the renegade was sprawled out on the ground with the tip of a Cyclonian staff pressed to his back.

I mockingly clapped as I stepped into the cell to retrieve the somewhat tamed wild animal. As I pulled him to his feet by grabbing the collar of his shirt, the Talon took a step back and nodded slightly.

I turned to go before I said, "Collect his weapons and bring them with you."

"Yes sir!" She replied quickly as she grabbed the two blades and raced after me before falling instep.

"Let me go!" The hooligan yelled as he struggled against my grasp.

"Now that just wouldn't do." I replied simply, and then with more of a dark tone I said, "Master Cyclonis would have my head if I didn't bring you to her, and its better that she has your head than mine."

The captured boy seemed to calm down a little. Maybe he finally realized he wasn't in a position to be making demands.

--

After a few minutes of walking, I entered through the double doors with firebolt crystals embedded in them to enter the throne room with the renegade and new Talon in tow.

"Master." I said as I stepped forward and bowed with one fisted hand to my chest, leaving the Hooligan in the Talon's care.

_After that odd display in the prison, I think she's capable._

"The Dark Ace." Cyclonis said as she turned around and looked between me and the renegade. "I see you have brought our guest, but please, teach him some manners."

Smiling maliciously I replied, "Of course master."

With another bow, I turned around and stood a few feet away from the boy who was staring at me in disgust.

"Bow before the Master!" I bellowed as I kicked the renegade in the gut.

With a moan, he fell to his knees, trying to recapture the breath that I must have knocked out of him.

_Serves him right for all the trouble he's been causing. The master has been at my throat ever since he and that Piper girl escaped._

Apparently having regained his breath the youth hissed, "Why should I bow to her? I doubt she is much older than me. I feel disgraced having to bow to her, but you should feel even more so. You're the one bowing to a 'master' who is younger than you." He finished his speech by glaring at me and spitting on my shoes.

"You shall pay for your insolence!" I roared as I backhanded the boy across the face.

The hooligan let out a yelp of pain as the force of the blow closed any remaining space between his body and the floor.

_Puh. Why should I listen to some KID tell me what a disgrace is. He probably doesn't even know the meaning of the word!_

"That is enough Dark Ace." Cyclonis said from where she was now sitting on her throne. "We don't want to hurt our _guest_ beyond reason. He is still needed as bait to pull Piper in.

"Of course Master." I said as I gave another slight bow.

"What does Piper have to do with this?" The youth said from his spot on the floor, the tip of the Cyclonian staff that the new Talon wielded once again making itself known to the hooligan's back.

Smiling, Master Cyclonis stated, "About everything."

"That doesn't answer my question." The boy hissed.

Seeming to look the renegade over as if to size up what sort of threat he was to her, Master Cyclonis just shrugged as she simply said, "She possesses great knowledge of crystals and strategies. I naturally want her to be by my side in the war and not against me."

"She'll never join you!" The boy yelled, and in turn his yelling received a swift kick to his stomach from my foot.

"Ah, but many are easily persuaded when they don't have anything to live for."

"Which means...?" He replied gasping for breath.

"Talons who have raided the Atmosian files found that she is an orphan."

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

"She has no family to turn to in her time of need – her Sky Knight is no more."

"Why should that change anything?!" The youth demanded.

"Even though recent reports say that the sharpshooter and Wallop are alive, a squadron can hardly operate normally without their Sky Knight. They'll eventually fall apart at the seams if they haven't already."

"What makes you so sure?"

Master Cyclonis just smiled in response to his question. The malicious smile seemed to tell it all.

Looking somewhat distraught the renegade asked, "Still what does this have to do with me?"

"You helped Piper escape from my jail cells; how?" Cyclonis asked, seeming to sit forward on her throne the tiniest bit.

"That matters... why?" The boy hissed.

"BECAUSE!" Cyclonis bellowed as she stood from her throne, casting a glare of pure hatred towards the renegade. "You are the hooligan that has been causing so much trouble these past few days! You MUST be eliminated! But first, it seems as though you have struck up a friendship with Piper. I am using it to my advantage. When she comes to rescue you, she shall be captured, and you will be dealt with!"

I saw the boy gulp back his fears as he stared straight into my red eyes with his hazel ones and a mutual agreement was exchanged; hatred.

* * *

Master Cyclonis' POV

_Well this is certainly interesting. I figured that the renegade would just admit defeat in fear of his life, but then he started asking all of those questions._

_It's not a problem that I told him some of my plans; he will be of no need to me soon once Piper shows up to attempt to save him. When that happens I'll capture her and get rid of this hooligan and any other trouble makers Piper may bring with her._

When the Dark Ace had left to go and get the prisoner, I ordered all of my guards to leave the throne room once the Dark Ace showed up. They all had, but I wasn't expecting the Dark Ace to bring in a Talon with him, especially a female one at that.

I had at first thought that she was just there to help him escort the prisoner, but she had stayed. For awhile I had been trying to think of a way to ask the Dark Ace about her presence and currently, I had the chance.

"Dark Ace," I said calmly. "Who is this Talon that they are important enough to be part of this meeting and welcoming of our _guest_?"

"This is a new recruit which I wish to add to my personal garrison." The Dark Ace replied coolly.

A shocked expression adorned the new Talon's face for a blink of an eye before it was back to the same expression all Talons wore, a crisp slight frown, and head held high. You could never really tell what a Talon was feeling from their eyes; they were always hidden behind those red goggles that all Talons – or rather mice - wore.

"Why do you wish another Talon for your already full garrison?" I asked crisply.

"I see promise in this one."

"Really?" I asked quite amused. "Why does this new recruit promise so much?"

"After a display of their abilities in the renegade's cell before, I have the notion to train them as an apprentice."

I couldn't help but let my eyebrows shoot up in surprise. The Dark Ace hated helping Snipe and Ravess as it was, but he was now willing to take on an apprentice? It was quite funny really.

"Are you sure?" I asked pointedly.

"Yes." The Dark Ace replied with assurance in his voice.

Out of nowhere a voice said, "No."

"No?" I questioned the Talon who had apparently just spoken.

"No." She restated as she took the tip of her staff away from the boy's neck and helped him up as she still held him captive by twisting his arms behind his back.

_What a foolish one she is. Being an apprentice to a commander almost always assures taking their place if anything should happen to them, or if the need for a new commander arises, they are first in line to be considered for the job._

_Such a foolish thing to go about refusing._

Just as I was sure the Dark Ace was going to crack and yell at the Talon they said, "I prefer my work in the prison better. I do not have the skills or desire to become a commander." Apparently she must have tightened her grip on the hooligan after her statement as he let out a soft yelp of pain.

I was becoming quite amused with the expression of surprise and hate that were mixed together on the Talon commander's face as the Talon added, "If I may," She began as she looked briefly between myself and the Dark Ace before continuing. "I don't believe your proposed plan will work."

"WHAT!?" The Dark Ace bellowed as his last bit of the already small patience he had was snapped. "How dare you question Master Cyclonis!"

Raising hand to signal to the Dark Ace to calm down I said, "Let the Talon speak."

"But Master -" The Dark Ace complained before I cut him off.

"I said, LET HER SPEAK!"

Nodding at my words, new recruit continued although it seemed like her words were directed towards the renegade, and not us.

"Piper will not come for this worthless piece of dirt. If she is as smart as you all say, she knows it is a trap."

"How would you know?!" The youth yelled in anguish as he tried to get free from the Talon's grasp.

Quickly tightening her grasp on his arms, the boy let out another cry of pain before the Talon continued, "I know; that's why."

_She has the perfect attitude for a commander..._

The renegade just stared at the woman holding him captive in disgust. His disgust turned into surprise as she released him from her hold and handed him the blades that were on the ground next to her.

The boy just blinked as he looked at the weapons in his hands, obviously too surprised to use them.

"What are you doing?!" The Dark Ace barked as he withdrew his energy sword.

Turning around to face me, the woman stood with her feet close together as an almost mocking act of attention before she took off her goggles and head gear to reveal long flowing black hair and piercing golden eyes.

I saw the hooligan's eyes light up with surprise and happiness before the rogue Talon threw her Cyclonian staff aside with a large clattering racket which ricocheted from one wall to another in ripples of echoes before the supposed Talon said simply, "I on the other hand, am here to help."

_No way, it can't be! She's supposed to be locked up! She's supposed to be in quarantine! She's, she's – she can't be here!_

* * *

Dark Ace's POV

Thinking on my toes, I shot several blasts of red crackling energy at the traitor only to find that the energy went right through her body before slamming into a support beam behind her.

_It's almost like she isn't really there!_

Glaring at me with striking gold eyes she hissed, "Don't waste your time, I'm not really here."

* * *

Master Cyclonis' POV

_What is going on here? First this woman shows up that looks exactly like the one that I still have imprisoned from my father's rule, and now it's like she isn't even here! The bolts of energy from the Dark Ace's sword didn't even hit her, the just sailed right through her body! How is that even possible?_

Turning to stare at me with those haunting eyes the 'Talon' in front of me said, "Now don't go acting all surprised. I'm sure you've had traitors before. Besides I'm not really here."

"Then where are you?" I questioned trying to act calm. Continuing I narrowed my eyes as I asked, "_What_ are you?"

Narrowing her own eyes the woman replied, "I'm merely a hallucination, or as you might want to refer to me, your _worst_ nightmare; I'm sure you must have many."

"If you _are_ a hallucination, why can both of us see you?" The Dark Ace asked cockily, but his voice was still filled with obvious doubt.

Turning to look at him the intruder replied, "How can I talk? How can I be seen by two people at once? All good questions, but not for you to know."

"And why's that?" He asked the hallucination with a tone of mockery.

"I came here because I have a score to settle, and it's not with you." Turning to look at me she said, "It's with you!"

"I don't even know you!" I yelled, bluffing.

"I beg to differ." She hissed.

"How so?" I questioned, still trying to hide my bluff.

The woman didn't answer, her golden eyes just flashed with a hint of blue before a great light blue cloud of whirling energy formed around her. The blue slowly turned into black before with a brilliant flash of sky blue, the cloud disappeared.

Once I had regained my sight, I saw a whir of black shooting towards me. Jumping out of the way in the knick of time, I avoided the sharp claws of a panther, but not just _any_ panther. It was a widely feared Black Amazonian Panther, and boy did it look mad.

"Still don't remember me?" It growled as it moved towards where I was sprawled on the ground.

_No, it can't be! She is supposed to be imprisoned in the depths of Cyclonia! How can the great Amazonian Guardian be here? Unless – _

"You're just a hallucination! You even said it yourself! Why should I be afraid of you?!" I yelled in distrust as I tried to stand.

Showing a mouth full of sharp pearly daggers, the Panther grinned as she began to crouch, saying, "That may be so, but this hallucination can kill!"

"Not today!" I heard the voice of my greatest warrior yell as he jumped between myself and the attacking animal.

"As I said before, I am not here necessarily to hurt you, I'm here to help this young man escape, so if you would excuse me," The Panther began as she began to circle around where the Dark Ace and I stood until she reached the renegade.

Once the Panther had reached her goal, a blue cloud surrounded her yet again until with another dramatic flash of pale blue, the Amazonian Guardian was now in their human form.

"I suggest you let us leave in peace." She said as pulled out a staff from her belt while the renegade ignited his blades which glowed an eerie green.

_Her staff looks oddly familiar, same with those blades, but I just can't place them._

"And if we don't?" The Dark Ace called as he ignited his sword once more.

The Guardian just gave a smirk before putting a few fingers in her mouth to let out a shrill whistle.

Looking around, I saw the wallop, sharpshooter, and the blue monkey - dog thing emerge from the shadows, appearing to come out of thin air.

"Any questions?" The woman asked while the others behind her raced out of the room.

Seeing our glares of hatred and confusion she said, "Good, I will have to settle the score later, no?"

Her form slowly began to disappear before she was no more than a memory leaving the room empty of occupants besides the Dark Ace and myself.

The Dark Ace threw his sword across the throne room in anger as the sounds of skimmer engines retreating from Cyclonia met our ears.

"No mercy next time hooligan!" I heard the Dark Ace say behind me, "No mercy!"

Ignoring the Dark Ace's ranting and raving, I walked back to my throne and sat down and began to think.

_Why is that renegade of so much interest to that 'hallucination'? Why did all of the other remaining Storm Hawks show up and not Piper? _

I continued to ponder until I realized something.

_Their Sky Knight is still dead, and I doubt that hooligan will be able to take his place. The Storm Hawks will be as disorganized as ever, and I still have the REAL Amazonian Guardian imprisoned, maybe if I whip a simple mind controlling crystal..._

_Soon we shall strike!_

_Soon we shall prevail!_

**

* * *

**

I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter of A Phoenix Among Hawks, but don't worry, the epilogue should be up sometime during the week and with that, a poll! A poll for what you may ask? well, you'll just have to wait and find out!

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. The update for 'What's the WORST that can happen?' Will be up a little later than usual tonight because I have been focusing on getting this chapter up, edited and posted TODAY (I was threatened that I was going to be attacked by wolves... wouldn't you type like the wind too?? XD) and considering it was Mother's day and all... well anyways. I better go type it up now!!**


	18. Epilogue

**Well, again many a thanks go to Unleash The shadow for editing this oddly long Epilogue...**

**Well everyone! It's been a fun time, but I'm afraid... this is the last chapter of _A Phoenix Among Hawks_- the Epilogue. Its basically just Aerrow's thoughts, but umm ya... why don't you all just read for yourselves, that would work instead of me telling you what its all about!!**

**I don't own the Storm Hawks, they are the property of Nerd Corps. (When have they ever been anyone else's property? And HOW many times have I told you all this??)**

**Well... here it is! The Epilogue!!**

* * *

Epilogue

_The Phoenix Star_

It's been about a week now since Piper and the guys rescued me from the Cyclonian palace.

This week sure has been pretty uneventful compared to the last one and our adventures that started with our recon mission to Amazonia.

I guess I should have listened to Piper's request not to go to Amazonia in the first place, but if the events of the past couple of weeks or so hadn't happened… I'd still be in the dark about Piper's abilities.

I mean, even before our recent encounters with the Cyclonians and the discoveries surrounding Piper's abilities I knew that Piper was special, I'll admit that, but now… now she's even more so.

Never would I have once guessed that Piper was a shapeshifter, heck, I hadn't even believed people with such abilities existed until I met Ayrgyn a couple of years ago.

He's only a _shapechanger_ though; not a _shapeshifter_ like Piper is. I wouldn't have known the difference between the two either if it hadn't been for the experiences I've been through these last couple of weeks.

I was still a little shocked about Piper's abilities, but it all seemed to sink in for the most part after we discovered that cavern in Amazonia just before I was knocked out and dragged off by Talons. I still don't know how that happened.

The fact that a Talon had gotten the better of me in a battle really ticked me off, but not as much as when I was in the Cyclonian dungeons and a Talon had gotten the better of me there as well.

The strange thing though was that _that_ specific Talon had attacked the back of my knees and usually the only person who is smart enough to do that is Piper.

At the time I had tried to think nothing of it, but I was suspicious, to say the least, when on the way to the throne room I realized that the Talon who had managed to subdue me was really a woman. Now _that_ piqued my interest.

When we finally reached the throne room, I tried not to give up hope. The Talon had brought my weapons after all, so what was stopping me from taking them? How about the way the Talon was holding onto me, trying to restrain me from escaping? She was firm and had an iron grip, but there was still somehow something kind and gentle about her touch.

I tried to tell myself that I was crazy; surely anyone who was worthy enough to be considered for the role of the Dark Ace's 'apprentice' would of course show no mercy.

So maybe you could fathom how surprised I was when this _Talon_ helped me up from the floor and refused to be the Dark Ace's apprentice.

I would have laughed at the scene if I wasn't so surprised at the Talon's actions, especially when she gave me back my energy blades.

Astonishment collided and stuck to my face when she took off the usual Talon headpiece and goggles to reveal thick black locks of hair and piercing golden eyes like the rising sun.

I'm sure that my mouth must have hung off of its hinges in complete and utter shock of gigantic proportions. The Talon was really... Piper...? Well at least I thought it was… It looked like the same sort of disguise she had been using earlier that day when we were on Amazonia, but now... now it didn't look like it was a disguise being produced by a chroma crystal. It had to be something more complex.

The really big clue that helped me figure out it was Piper was when for a mere split second, I saw a flash of light blue dart across her eyes, a sure sign of the Amp Stone's presence and that it was probably hidden underneath the collar of her Cyclonian garb.

What confirmed all of my observations though was when she shifted into an Amazonian Black Panther. Up until that moment, I didn't even know she could shift into that animal… they were legendary for a reason, no one has seen one in years….

I guess she is a native to Amazonia; it would make sense if she had seen one before.

It was now a week after the events that happened in the throne room on Cyclonia, yet I can't seem to get something out of my head; why did Cyclonis seem so scared when she saw what her 'Talon' looked like when they took of their goggles and headpiece? I didn't know what had gotten her so spooked, and I also didn't know what score Piper had to settle with Cyclonis either, but I doubt that I'll find out anytime soon.

Piper's been really quiet ever since we got back from Cyclonia, and I'm not exactly sure why...

* * *

Flashback

After escaping from Cyclonia on our skimmers, we landed on the Condor a few minutes later, and once we did, Stork had pushed the engines a little harder to get out of Cyclonian territory. The Condor was still invisible, but you could tell from Stork's eye's uncontrollable twitching, the invisi crystal modified shielding might not last for much longer.

"Well, its good having you back pal!" Finn said as he slapped me on the back with a smile on his face.

"You're safe Aerrow!" Junko cried as his arms enveloped me in one of his famous bone crushing hugs.

"I can't – breathe!" I gasped before Junko released me from his grip.

"Sorry!" Junko mumbled as he stared at his feet.

Putting a hand on my friend's large shoulder I said, no problem Junko! I'm fine, really!" I assured him as I began to grin.

Junko nodded in response and smiled as well. It seemed like everyone was smiling, even the corners of Stork's mouth were turned skyward, but Piper – I don't know, she seemed out of it for some reason.

"So," Finn said as he turned towards where Piper was leaning against the window. "Why haven't you turned off your advanced chroma crystal yet?"

_Advanced chroma crystal? What is Finn talking about?_

"I, uh – that is..." Piper said avoiding Finn's gaze.

As Piper fumbled about for an answer I quickly stepped in and said, "Piper can you come with me to the lab, I think my shoes need some help…"

I pointed to my brown hair with reddening tips before Piper replied quickly, "Sure."

As I followed Piper off of the bridge and towards the lab, I grabbed onto Piper's wrist once we had turned around a corner.

Turning to stare at me quizzically Piper asked, "What are you doing, is something wrong?"

Letting go of her wrist I said, "No, nothing's wrong with me, is anything wrong with you?"

Piper looking down at her toes gave me answer enough, but I still wanted her to confirm it. "Piper?" I asked with concern in my voice, concern that I hoped she heard. Maybe if she knew I cared, she would be willing to open up and tell me what was bothering her.

Looking up at me she changed the subject asking, "You said you needed help with your shoes…?"

I couldn't help but stare at her blankly until my mind finally kicked in. "Oh, OH!" I scratched the back of my head while I stared at my feet before saying, "It was sort of just an excuse to get you out of there - " I cut myself short, as when I looked up, Piper wasn't there anymore.

I did a double take before I ran off down the hall towards her room.

Once I rounded the last corner, I saw that Piper's bedroom door was open, but Piper was just standing there, leaning up against the doorframe, her arm resting on it, and her head leaning on her arm.

"Piper?" I asked with worry laced into my voice, as from where I stood a few feet away from her, I was able to see that her whole body was shaking. I didn't know if it was from exhaustion, or what, but I knew it couldn't be good. Just as I was about to reach my hand out to rest on her shoulder, a small blue cloud began to form around her.

_What's going on? Why is she shifting?_

When the blue cloud dispersed following a small flash of light blue light, I heard a moan before I saw Piper sway from one side to the other, one hand on her head.

Piper was now back to her normal midnight blue haired, orange eyed self, yet she didn't really seem like herself at this exact moment.

With a final moan, Piper's knees gave out from beneath her just as I managed to catch her before her entire body crumpled to the floor.

"Piper?" I whispered. "Piper?"

A moan being my only response, I gathered my friend into my arms before carrying her to the bed that was just inside of her room.

Setting her down gingerly, I brushed some of her bangs from her eyes as I whispered, "Piper? Piper, can you hear me?"

More moaning was Piper's reply.

"Come on Piper... wake up!" I continued to whisper as my hand found hers and grasped onto it. With my action, her eyes fluttered open and closed a few times before they decided to remain shut for the time being.

"Piper, what am I going to do with you?" I whispered as I began to run my thumb across her hand in small circles.

_Honestly Piper, what am I supposed to do with you? It seems that every time that you have to use your abilities, it's to save me, and you're always the one to get hurt; because of me._

_When we were going to get caught by Cyclonian border patrols, you turned into a Phoenix to distract them. When you finally came and found me, you just, just... collapsed on me!_

_When we were on Amazonia and you became an Alarian Hawk, you fell from that tree and crashed in to the ground – hard. Plus that dumb Talon that shot you in the leg! You could hardly walk! _

_Wait – your leg! How were you walking on it before? How were you not limping?_

Letting go of Piper's hand for a moment, I turned to look at Piper's right leg which was now bandaged, but the bandage wasn't exactly white; red or _blood_ red would be the proper colour to call it in its current state.

"Look at what you've done and gone to yourself now." I mumbled as I slipped my hand into hers once more.

After another few minutes of sitting beside her on the bed, gently rubbing my thumb against Piper's hand in slow circles I felt her stir ever so slightly.

"Piper?" I whispered, leaning towards her, squeezing her hand gently.

Her eyes fluttered open once more, and this time they managed to stay open.

Looking down at her, I saw Piper blink a few more times as she glanced around quickly before her eyes met mine and she asked, "Aerrow?"

"Hey." I said softly, memorized by her eyes.

"Hi." She whispered back, before breaking my gaze to stare at my hand which, once I followed her eyes, I realized was still clasping her hand.

"Oh!" I said quickly as I untangled my fingers from hers. "Sorry 'bout that..." I mumbled as I ran my hand through my messy hair, hoping beyond all hope that my cheeks wouldn't turn the same colour of red to match.

Giving a weak smile Piper replied, "Its okay, really."

I gave her a meek smile before it turned itself into a frown.

"What's wrong Aerrow?" Piper asked me as she tried to get up into a sitting position. Her efforts were dashed though as she put a hand to her head, lying back down with a moan of pain escaping her lips.

"Nothing is wrong with me Piper, I think its you..."

Piper looked at me blankly before I sighed and said, "Piper, I don't know how you did it, but, but… I think you shifted into … a different person? And when you shifted back, you kind of just – collapsed."

When Piper still said nothing I continued, "Piper, you had me scared... I wasn't sure what was going on with you; you just kind of… collapsed, and now…."

"And now, what?" Piper asked, trying to avoid my gaze.

"Now your leg is busted up pretty good."

"What?" Piper questioned as she tried to get up again.

This time I helped her into a sitting position before saying, "Look at the bandages…." My voice drifted off as I heard Piper gasp at the sight.

Looking down at the reddened bandages I mumbled, "I don't remember it being that bad, what happened while I was gone?"

"Well…" Piper said trailing off as she once again refused to meet my eyes.

"You can tell me Piper, I need to know."

"I – it's just that… I don't know." I raised an eyebrow at her response before she continued to say, "It wasn't too bad back in the cavern behind the waterfall, I was just sitting there waiting for you after all."

I nodded my head as she continued.

"After you left to go help Junko and Finn, my Amp Stone started to glow – a lot. I didn't know if it was you in trouble, or Junko, or Finn, all I knew was that I had to help you guys. I stood up and I ignored the pain in my leg and I… shifted."

"Ya…" I said in hopes to encourage her to continue.

"I raced out to the clearing that was around the river and waterfall to see Talons everywhere; I couldn't even see you and Finn until later when all of the Talons were running away from me."

"But what did you shift into to make them all so scared?" I asked, trying to be polite and not cut into her story _too_ much.

Giving a small smile Piper said, "An Amazonian Black Panther, like my mom..." The smile that was adorning Piper's face only moments ago melted away into a small frown before Piper shook her head and continued, "That wasn't what I was trying to get at though. The thing is that even though my leg was bothering me before in the cavern, it wasn't bothering me when I was in a shape other than my own."

Frowning I said, "So that's how you saved me, you shifted into someone who wasn't you and then you infiltrated the palace?"

"Basically."

I nodded, but realizing something I asked, "Why did your wound get worse then?"

Piper glanced down at her bandaged leg before replying in a quiet voice, "I guess it just makes it so that the wound isn't visible to others, and that you can't feel it."

"I guess." I replied as I stood up from the place I had been sitting on Piper's bed. Holding out my hand to her I said, "Come on, lets go and let Stork patch you up. Your Amp Stone obviously isn't doing anything at the moment to help it out."

Shaking her head, Piper took my hand and got up slowly, leaning heavily on me as we walked out of her room and down the hall towards the infirmary.

Once Piper was settled in the infirmary, I walked out to get Stork, but as I left I heard Piper mumble, "Stork's going to have a field day with this…."

* * *

Piper's quietness could just be because of her feeling under the weather from her injury, but I just can't shake the feeling that there's something more to it; something more personal than a wound trying to heal.

The truth is that I'm worried for her, not just because of her leg, but because of, well… a lot of things. And most all of them had happened in the past couple of weeks.

She'd been captured by Cyclonians and thought that we were dead.

Piper and I had been about to get attacked by Talon border patrols, and she risked having me mad at her just to save us using her… abilities.

She had told me everything that she knew about her abilities, and she had been forced to think back to her childhood to tell me so – a childhood that I felt like Piper would rather forget.

Piper and I had been chased and hunted by Talons on Amazonia when we were trying to crack the riddled clue.

We had jumped off of a waterfall, and she had almost drowned.

I had gotten kidnapped and she and the guys had to come and rescue me.

She faced Master Cyclonis _and _the Dark Ace alone… While I just stood there glued to the spot in astonishment.

Those experiences were just the recent ones.

There were so many things she'd been through…. We'd gone through most of them together, but up until last week, I didn't know much about her life before she came to live with me and my parents and the original Storm Hawks on the Condor.

I knew her parents had died, but I never really understood how she felt until mine went down with the former Storm Hawks… Piper had been there for me then.

I wanted to be there for her now, like she was always there for me when I needed her, but this time... I just didn't know how to help. After all, it's hard to help someone when you don't know what's wrong with them in the first place.

Once Stork had finished bandaging Piper's leg the second time, I made Piper promise not to use her abilities until her leg was better. I could tell she wanted to protest, but for some reason, she complied. Maybe deep down she knew it was for the best.

Like I said earlier, it's been a pretty uneventful week.

No Cyclonian attacks, no Raptors, no Murk Raiders, not even a single Sky Shark… absolutely nothing.

Piper's pretty much fallen into the routine of locking herself in her room all day, only to limp to the kitchen for meals. Other than that, the only time she would come out of her room was at night, when she thought everyone was asleep.

How did I know that? Well a few days ago I wasn't able to sleep so I went and climbed onto the roof of the Condor to sit and stargaze. It was peaceful until out of the corner of my eye, I saw something, or rather _someone_ walking to the edge of the runway.

Rolling over so that I was lying down on my stomach and not my back, I rested my head on my crossed arms in front of me, watching the person.

Even from far away, I could see Piper's form silhouetted in the glow of the soft moonlight. I saw her glance around quickly before she jumped off of the edge and into the clouds below.

I gasped at what my friend had just did, and then I stumbled to get myself up to see over the edge of roof, but before I could will my body to move, I saw a bright flash of sky blue and then, a steady glow of red - orange.

It was déjà vu all over again.

I blinked as off in the distance I saw a phoenix break free of the clouds, and flap its fiery wings, soaring high in the moon lit sky like it had no care in the world. It had a crystal around its neck reflecting rays of moonlight, shimmering in sync with a far off star.

After a few moments of staring at the bird, I finally sat back down on the roof and pulled my eyes away from the Phoenix that was flying back towards the Condor.

Each night since then, I've gone up and sat on the roof, staring at the stars before a different one appeared that wasn't as far off. I started to call it the Phoenix Star because when Piper turned into a Phoenix for her late night flights, her Amp Stone always seemed to glimmer and shine like a star would.

Sure I was upset that Piper was using her abilities while her leg was still healing, but I guess I never really made her _promise_ not too….

The truth is while Piper was off flying who knows where, and thinking about who knows what, I got some time to myself to just sit back and well, think.

I thought about a lot of things. Mainly about my team and the war with Cyclonia, but every now and then my thoughts would drift off and somehow I'd end up thinking about Piper. I was still really confused about her Amp Stone and how it activated... and that we were each others… one true love? It all just seemed so… I don't know. It's just, well you see – ugh.

I could never really figure it out.

Except for the night when I got back from being a prisoner on Cyclonia, Piper and I hadn't talked much; I had decided to give Piper a little space though. She probably had the same, if not more thoughts running through her head than I did this week.

I was wondering if the Storm Hawks could still operate from a day to day basis like we used to. I know we can, its just some things have just, well – _changed._

One change now is that I have to wear my stealth shoes everywhere on the ship in case we were ever to fall victim to a surprise Cyclonian attack. To Master Cyclonis and her minions, I'm as good as dead; at least that's what _they_ think.

Unbeknownst to them I'm still around and kicking… I just have to use a disguise whenever they're around.

The other change is a little more obvious though. Piper just rediscovered her shapeshifting abilities, and Ayrgyn and I were the only other people in all of Atmos they knew. Well, at least I hoped no one else knew. I would have also liked for the rest of our squadron to know, but I guess Piper will tell them in time, I just have to wait.

I couldn't help but wonder one more thing whenever I'm up on the roof surrounded by stars and Piper is off flying. I couldn't help but wonder; is Piper going to be happy being a Storm Hawk now?

Now that she has these abilities, well I guess she's had them forever, but anyways…. Now that she has these abilities, she could go and be whatever she wanted. She could probably defeat Master Cyclonis single handedly.

So now, one question remains that weighs heavy in my heart.

_How long can Piper be happy being A Phoenix Among Hawks?_

* * *

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading A Phoenix Among Hawks! And I'm REALLY sorry that it took me forever to update this... THREE weeks to be exact... anyways I'd just like to give a shout out to everyone who reviewed! This was my first Fanfiction story EVER and thanks to all of you wonderful people out there, I received over 100 reviews over the course of this story! I think you all deserve a cookie!!**

**Many thanks go out to:**

My first reviewer ever: Dragon77  
Reviewed every chapter but one: Tuberculosis Queen**  
**Faithful Editor: Unleash The Shadow**  
**Many other reviewers such as:  
Startail  
Dragonwings144  
HiveMind  
I-Am-A-Fighting-Dreamer  
Detkit95  
10Lou01  
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Chaotic Manifest  
CaelanBell  
Ace of Aces 2.0  
Allie-Chan the Clepto  
DevilsAngelSaphire  
Crystal Lit Moon  
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mcmario  
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Anonymous Reviewers:

alice the dark angel  
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Emily  
The Fallen One  
ALLy  
MasterBrattan  
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**If I left anyones name out, feel free to message me or leave a review saying so, and I'll add to the list above. **

**Now I know one individual in particular right now that is probably awfully steamed at me for forgetting their name, but I didn't!**

**I want you all to give **SakariWolfe **A HUGE round of applause!! They are the ONLY reviewer who reviewed EVER SINGLE chapter!! You want to know how that happened? They sent me the single review I received for chapter three LOL.**

**Well, I just want to say thanks again to everyone who reviewed and read this story, and who put up with all of my sparodic updates!!**

**Now... just before you go, please, on your way out, check out the new poll I have posted on my profile. Even if you aren't a member on this site, go and check it out and then come back and leave a review with your opinion or something... I do accept anonymous reviews you know! Anyways... the poll is about... APAH, what in particular, I'm not saying yet but I VERY STRONGLY suggest you check it out! **

**Please?**

**Well, hopefully You've all enjoyed this story! **

**Until next time, **

**Crimson Fox4**

**PS. GO AND CHECK OUT THE POLL!! (its for your own good... TRUST me! :P)**


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